


Choices

by Kessafan



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Kidnapped, Mobster Edward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-04-08 19:33:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 26,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4317114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kessafan/pseuds/Kessafan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some choices are made for you, some you make yourself. Some are made under duress, some are made by fate. Bella's born into a life she didn't want but everything happens for a reason right? Kidnapped, Bella has a new life choice in front of her. Which way will she go? E&B</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Characters are SM's, I just like to stir the pot!

Isabella Swan was cold…

It was the first thing her muddled mind grasped onto when she woke up. But after having that thought, she quickly realised that not only was she cold, but she was wet too. She also knew that her eyes were open, even though the world around her was as dark as when they were closed. The heavy smell of damp, dirty surroundings invaded her senses and even though she couldn’t see it, she could feel the dirt and grime coating her skin.

A violent shiver racked its way through her body; one that was equal measure of temperature and fear. Bella wasn’t stupid; she knew that her current situation was not a good one to be in. As she sat up, she tried to pull her skirt as far over her knees as she could but it didn’t do much good, she was still cold. Her eyes closed tight as she tried to think of the last thing she could remember. She was walking home from work; she’d just finished her shift at the coffee shop and was taking her regular route to her small loft that she rented near the college. She remembered up to the part where she’d been about halfway home… and... she was grabbed from behind.

The sound of a key in a door lock and a handle being turned sounded out in front of her, instantly pulling her away from the memory of when she was taken. Her heart skipped a beat before taking off faster than it had even gone before and her eyes open wide in hopes of seeing who had kidnapped her but she quickly realised her mistake when blinding white light ripped through her eyes and brain. The stabbing pain made her already muddled head feel as if it was about implode.

“About time you woke up.”…a deep male voice said in front of her. Temporarily blinded, Bella couldn’t make out any features of the man before the door closed and she was once more shrouded in darkness, only this time there was colored splotches where the light had burned its way onto her cornea.

“Who are you?” Bella asked as forcefully as she could.

“Doesn’t matter, all you need to worry about is not doing anything to piss me off.” Bella could hear that the man was pacing, she didn’t understand how he could see where he was going. Dread filled her as she realised what was really going on.

“You’ve just signed you death warrant.” Bella whispered. She didn’t know if this idiot had actually planned on taking her or if she’d been taken on a whim only for him to realise who she was and was now panicking… Either way, she just hoped that she stayed alive long enough for her father to find her; her father, the mob boss.

“I know exactly what I’ve done.” The man said. Bella didn’t know if that knowledge made her predicament worse or not. “But some of us don’t always have a choice in life.”

“You always have a choice.”

“Or the illusion of one at least.” He mumbled. “Here’s how things are going to play out. You’re going to be good and not give me any trouble and one day soon, you’ll be back with your family and you’ll never see me again.”

“Or, I’ll be good and one day I’ll be back with my family while they kill you in the longest, most painful way possible.”

A deep, unamused chuckle came from the darkness to my right. “Maybe… but at least it’ll all be for a good cause.”

 _Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting._ Isabella thought to herself. “What does that mean?” A good ten seconds passed before she got a reply.  
“Are you allergic to anything?”

 _What?_ “Shellfish, why?”

“Because you’re no good to me dead, that’s why.” Bella followed the sounds of his footsteps as he moved to her right. “I’ll be back shortly. There’s a toilet to your left.”

Bella’s head automatically turned to the left, just a moment before the door opened once more. She quickly tried to make out any details about her kidnapper but once more the blinding white light outside of her dark room made it impossible for her to do so, other than the fact that he was tall and seemed to be well built.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _‘Shortly’_ wasn’t as short as Bella would have thought, in fact it felt like hours had passed before she heard the door unlocking and opening once more. This time, she looked to the floor on the right side of the door so that the light wouldn’t blind her again and waited. She gave herself a second to let her eyes adjust before looking up at the man but he had a hoody on and his face was obscured by scraggly dark hair. The bright light behind him still had her squinting but she could at least make more of him out than before.

“I’m cold; can I get a blanket and possibly something dry to sit on?”

“No.” His answer was curt and instantly she knew that his mood was a lot darker than it had been before. “Be thankful I’m giving you food.”

“You’re only making things worse.” She said shaking her head slightly.

“Worse?” He snorted derisively before moving around the room. “Could it get any worse, Isabella? Really? It wasn’t supposed…”

 _Supposed… to what?_ Bella wondered. She wanted to ask but even in the dark she could tell that he was acting like a caged beast just waiting for someone to get close enough for him to take a swipe at; she didn’t dare start to poke him with questions… not yet at least. The man let out a deep breath; she couldn’t see him to be able to tell if he was angry, scared or just plain frustrated.

“I got you some sandwiches, so eat.”

Bella was about to tell him where he could stick his sandwiches when she realised how hungry she was and she knew that if she had any chance of getting out of here, possibly when the opportunity arose, then she needed to keep up her strength, and his reference about needing her alive made her sure he wasn’t about to poison her. “Where are they?” The sound of three footsteps in her direction had her turn her head to her right. Instinctively, she rubbed her dirty hands against her skirt and waited.

“Hold out your hands.” After only a moment’s hesitation Bella did as she was told and felt a paper bag touch her hands. She heard a rustle of movement in front of her before he spoke again. “There’s a bottle of water in front of you.”

She wasn’t going to thank him. Suddenly a thought she had earlier re-entered her mind and her eyes darted up in front of her. How could he see? The room was as black for him as it was for her, or so she thought. She narrowed her eyes and tried to see something about him, but it was no use… Retreating footsteps told her that he was about to leave.

=x=

She couldn’t be sure, but it felt like nearly a whole day had passed before the man returned to her dark prison. She was just about to start pounding on the door while screaming to be let out when she heard the key unlocking it. She stepped back three steps and waited.

“Go back to the wall, Isabella.” The man’s voice rang out through the door. Even though she knew it was impossible to see, her eyes darted around her in an effort to locate the camera she now knew he was watching her with. “Now!”

Huffing in exasperation, Bella moved backwards a further four steps and waited for the wall to meet her back. When it did, the door opened and the hooded man once more moved into the room. “So… cameras too, huh?”

“The better to see you with my dear; do you want this food or not?”

Bella’s emotions were almost at breaking point. She was scared, hungry, dirty, confused, angry and everything in between. She couldn’t stop the words before they spilled out of her. “Do you watch me when I go to the toilet too? Do you sit there and get off like some voyeuristic deviant?”

One second…

Two seconds…

Three seconds…

The door opened and he walked out. Food and all…

 _“Shit!”_ Bella whispered under her breath.

By the time he came back, Bella’s stomach had decided to start eating itself seeing as she ruined all chances of getting fed any time soon.

“Hold out your hands.” Bella did what he said and once more a paper bag touched her hands. Again she spoke before thinking but not before ensuring he couldn’t take the food away from her.

“You gonna watch me eat now?” She asked snidely with a mouthful of food. “Maybe I should put on a show for you later too.”

“If that’s what gets you off.” Bella could hear that he was fighting a smile but she was too pissed to care. “Your father is a stubborn man.”

The man’s words stopped Bella mid-chew. She knew exactly how stubborn her father was but she didn’t think her abduction would be a situation where it would raise its ugly head. “You don’t know the half of it.” She said trying to sound cool about it. She took another small bite of her bland sandwich.

“It amazes me sometimes…” he said cryptically.

“What?”

“What some people are willing to gamble with. I would’ve thought someone in your father’s line of work would know what matters most in this fucked up world.”

Bella had no illusions of what her father thought was most important in this life… power and money in equal measure, then her brothers… but she thought she was a close third at least. “He knows.”

“Does your father love you, Isabella?”

His question caught her off guard. “Of course he does!” She yelled out as she moved forward.

 _“Against the wall!”_ He yelled back. Taking a deep breath, the man walked to Bella’s right. “I thought so too, Isabella but I’m starting to wonder now if I overestimated your father’s love for his family.”

Bella couldn’t help it. As she continued to chew, a tear fell down her cheek; her throat started to tighten with emotion but she pushed through it and tried to act unaffected. “He’d be stalling for time, time that he needs to find me and when he does, he’ll have you strung up by your ball sack.”

The room was silent. Bella jumped when her captor snorted out a laugh mere inches in front of her face. She hadn’t heard him move closer. “You surprise me, Isabella.” He whispered.

“Piss off…”

He laughed once more as he moved back to the door and walked out. She could hear him through the door laughing on and off for the next long while. Bella was so glad that she amused him so much.

The next time Bella woke up, she was covered in a blanket.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine unfortunately, but the story is…

Let’s get to a few answers shall we! 

Chapter 3

* * *

 

“Can I have something other than a sandwich to eat please?” Bella said into the darkness. Her jailer hadn’t made an appearance for hours but she knew damn well he was watching her because she could hear soft, muffled sounds every now and then, but what she didn’t know was if he could hear her as well... she could only hope. She was interested in what he’d do next. What felt like nearly an hour later, he walked into her room.

“Hold out your hands.” Once more she felt the paper bag in her hands but it was heavy… it was most definitely _not_ a sandwich. She reached in and felt something cold and… round. Her face scrunched in confusion. Feeling around blindly, she felt something frilly, leafy. Suddenly she knew what he’d given her.

Rolling her eyes, she looked up to where she thought he stood and gave her best glare. “Really… you’re giving me a lettuce?”

“You wanted something different.” He said smiling, this time he hadn’t tried to disguise his amusement. Bella was certain that it had something to do with the disgusted look she had on her face.

“Prick!” She yelled as she threw it back in his direction.

“Well, if you weren’t hungry today, Isabella,” he laughed, “… why did you ask for something different?”

“That’s not food you wanker!”

The man’s voice became serious once more. “You seem to eat it well enough on your sandwiches.”

It only took Bella a second to get his meaning. She shook her head slowly as she huffed out a derisive sound… _Lesson learned arsehole; I’ll take the bloody sandwiches!_ She thought to herself as she looked in his direction.

The man watched through his night vision goggles as understanding crossed over his captive’s face. He’d watched her long enough before finally taking her to know that that she wasn’t an idiot. He knew that he had to be smart when he finally got her, that he had to put her in her place right from the start; she didn’t disappoint.

She was a quick learner.

One thing he hadn’t known before taking her was just how much of a spitfire she was. That fact shouldn’t have surprised as much as it did considering who her father and brothers were but what did surprise him was how much he liked her fire. She was tough and she didn’t scare easily and as much as that last part was going to make his life more difficult than he needed it to be, he found that he liked her that way.

After the door closed once more, Bella got up off the floor and stretched. Her back was killing her and she was aching all over. By now she knew how many steps in any direction she could go before running into a wall or the toilet and as she walked, she thought about her father and her brothers. She also wondered what was taking them so long to find her because as much as she’d never been afraid of the dark, her ‘room’ was starting to close in on her.

A few minutes later, the man walked back into the dark room and before he could say his normal… 'Hold out your hands', Bella raised her hands up. Her jailer smiled.

“What’s your name?” Bella asked.

“Yeah, like I’m going to tell you that.”

“Well tell me any name then, I need something to call you when I…” _secretly plan your death_ “…want something.”

The man saw the smile she was trying to stop and wondered what she had planned on saying before changing her mind. “It’s not a bloody hotel Princess.”

“Fine… then I’ll just have to call you…Edward.” The name of one of her favourite characters in her favourite movie popped into her head. She couldn’t recall how many times she’d watched Pretty Woman in her life but there was something about a good looking man rescuing her from a life she didn’t want but had no choice to live, that spoke to her. While she loved her twin brother with her whole heart, she’d spent her whole life hiding from her older brother James; he was a cruel bastard. He’d hurt her so many times, though never in the presence of anyone who could corroborate, so it didn’t take long before everyone thought her blaming James was her way of covering the fact that she was just a klutz.

She had often wished that she’d been born in to a different family, one where she didn’t have to constantly watch what she said so she didn’t piss off the wrong person, including her distant father and one where she didn’t have a prearranged marriage hanging over her head, she shuddered thinking of the men her father was choosing between.

But what she couldn’t see was the shock cross her jailers face at her choice of names. He was certain she didn’t know who he was. Forcing himself to speak calmly, he moved towards her.

“Edward? Why’d you pick that name?”

Bella wasn’t about to tell him her reasoning, he’d think she was an immature… _princess _…__ so she scrambled to think of something else.

She shrugged her shoulders and fidgeted as her mind whirled… “Because… it sounds like something you’d be called. You know, egotistical and full of your own self-importance… dumb… _old _…”__ She couldn’t stop another grin pulling at her lips as she imagined him getting angrier and angrier.

Edward grinned how well she unknowingly pegged him, he was all of that and more. It was quite eerie how she ‘saw’ him even when she was in complete darkness. He was now the closest he’d been to his captive since taking her; he couldn’t help but lean a little closer. There was something about her that drew him in, like one of those illusion drawings where you couldn’t help but study it until you could work out exactly what was going on…

“You shouldn’t push me little girl.” He quietly growled. As Bella gasped, heat pooled in her cheeks she hadn’t realised he was that close. “I told you to be good, Isabella, so stop baiting me.”

Even with his night vision glasses on, he could tell she was dirty; he didn’t need her scent to tell him that. So after leaving the room, he went over to the small storage room to see if there was a bucket handy. He hadn’t thought she’d be with him for this long; otherwise he would have made other provisions. He half-filled it with some cold water while he boiled the kettle that sat on the bench of the small kitchenette and then went to find something she could use as a rag. Yes, she was his captive but it didn’t mean he liked seeing her in the state she was in. Over the last week, Edward had come to respect her for the strength she’d shown, not many of the women he knew would be as calm in the same situation. There was nothing more annoying to him than a spineless woman who blubbered like a baby; he’d met too many of them in his line of work.

When he re-entered the holding room he saw that Bella had finished her food. He remembered the look on her face when she realised that he’d given her a lettuce to eat and he couldn’t help but smile; he got an enormous amount of enjoyment out of firing her up, he’d miss it when she went home. The smile he had on his face fell instantly when he realised that he was starting to form an attachment. Attachments made his life complicated and gave others something to use against him. It was a realisation that sobered him up pretty quick, after all, she was practically a child and he… wasn’t.

The second time he’d entered Bella’s room, he’d realised that she’d worked out how to stop the outside light from blinding her when he’d open her door so from then on, to ensure that she couldn’t identify him; he’d turn off the light in the outside rooms before opening her door. Edward slammed up the emotional walls that he hadn’t even realised he’d let down and walked to stand in front of her. “Hold out your hands.”

Bella was startled at the harshness in his words; he hadn’t spoken to her like that in what felt like days. Something bad must have happened and suddenly she didn’t want to put her hands anywhere near him. “Why, you’ve already fed me.” Edward didn’t say a word; he just waited for her to comply. “Tell me what you’re giving me and I’ll do it.”

Edward looked down at the bucket in his hands and wondered if showing her this small kindness was the wrong thing to do. He clenched his jaw before taking a step back then without another word, he turned around and walked back outside.

“ _Wait!_ I’ll do it… wait. Edward…” Bella cried out when she realised that he was leaving. She tried to follow but she wasn’t facing the right way and ended up running into a wall. With the sound of the door closing beside her, she yelled out. _“Shit!”_ She could only guess what he was going to give her… maybe something nice to eat… like some chocolate. Bella’s shoulders dropped in defeat as she waited, but her ‘Edward’ didn’t come back.

And he didn’t come back for a long, long time. It was so long that she wondered if he’d decided to just abandon her or if her father had got a hold of him and killed him before he found out where he’d stashed her. With her stomach folding in on itself and her head thumping, Bella did everything she could to keep the fear of starving to death in the dark at bay…


	4. Chapter 4

The moment Edward walked out of the room; he walked over to the small sink on the far wall and emptied the bucket. He stood there with his hands gripping the hard steel edge of the sink for a while and watched the water swirl its way down the drain, his jaw clenching as he tried to rein in his spiralling emotions. He couldn’t believe that in the few short weeks he’d spent tracking and watching Bella’s every move and then the week spent with her since he taken her, that he’d somehow formed… an attachment. Sure, he could have sent one of his men to watch her and take her but the stakes were too high and he knew that it was _his_ responsibility to get the job done.

He’d needed to study her, know her timetable, her habits so that when the time came, her kidnapping would go off without a hitch. His whole world relied on it; she was the one job that he couldn’t afford to go awry. Her taking had to be planned to the second and he trusted no-one but himself to do it.

From the shadows, he immersed himself in her life and he was just now realising that there wasn’t anything about her that he’d found annoying. Now that she was in _ _his__ space and he was actually conversing with her, he was finding out that she was more than he’d first realised… much more, and he didn’t know if he liked it or not.

“Fuck!” He cursed. He forcefully pushed away from the sink and went to grab his suit jacket and keys; he needed to put more pressure on her father. If there was one thing Edward didn’t do, it was forming attachments so that meant that he needed her gone… Now!

He quickly paced his way out of the building and got into the old car outside and drove towards his goal. Edward drove through the streets of Chicago; he needed to send a message that would push Charles Swan into giving back what he took so that his life could go back to what it was before… He was definitely no angel, how could he be when he’d grown up in the life and family that he did. For as long as he could remember, he’d been groomed for his life, he knew all the tricks of the trade and tonight he’d use his God given talents to get this job over and done with. 

As he drove, his eyes searched for the one who would fill his needs for the night; it didn’t take him long. Edward spotted his mark up ahead so he started to pull his car over to the curb. As the prostitute walked unsteadily up to his car, he poured some of the chloroform he’d used on Bella onto a rag and waited.

“How much?” He asked when she stood beside his window. He took in the pock marked skin of her face, the glassy eyes and scabs; he’d be doing her a favour.

“One hundred.” She said while trying to look sexy. Her eyes took in the old, non-descript car and the opposing clean cut man in the expensive clothes. She may have been flying high, but she could still read a john in five seconds flat, and what she saw told her that this man didn’t want anyone to recognise him on his hunt for a little somethin’ somethin’…

“Get in.” Edward said abruptly. The woman made her way around the front of the car, stumbling every few steps. Sliding onto the torn fake leather seats, she turned to him with a closed lip smile. She may be off her face but she still knew her bad teeth turned off men with money.

“Go up the road a bit and turn left into the alley three streets up.” She directed. But instead of following her directions, he turned to her and reached out to grab the back of her head. She thought she knew what was coming, but she didn’t, at least not until Edward slammed the chloroformed rag against her face. He’d moved his body into a position that if anyone outside was watching, they’d think he was kissing her. She tried to fight, but Edward was too strong and within seconds she was unconscious in the seat beside him. Turning slightly, Edward realised he had an audience so he pulled the girl down and laid her head on his lap; he knew what the other girls would think…

He drove for a short while and stopped behind a small, abandoned strip mall. For the next part of his plan, he needed to stash her somewhere unseen. Edward slowly unfolded himself out of the car and quickly scanned his surroundings. He went around to the end of his car and opened the trunk, another glance told him he was still alone for the time being. He walked unhurriedly but with purpose and opened the passenger side door of the car. At the thought of touching this woman, with her skin covered in sores and filth, his face tightened but he had a job to do and he’d done a lot worse than touching someone like her. He pulled at her over her clothes and lifted her out of the car; she was so lightweight it was ridiculous.

“Is that wat’chu gotta do ta get a bit man?” Said the male voice behind him, Edward knew just by his voice that he wasn’t the law so he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to face him. “Don’t ya know its better when they fight back?” The men behind him all laughed out at their leaders words; apparently he was being funny…

Edward didn’t respond straight away but his eyes took in everything about the four men that surrounded him. Two white, two black… and all with dreds…

“We don’t care what you do with that…” the leader said while motioning to the woman in his arms. “… but we’ll have your wallet and car.”

“If you were smart, I’d advise you to all turn around and fuck off… are you smart men?” Edward growled out as he catalogued where every one of his weapons were, all he had to do was drop the woman and he’d have them all down in under a minute.

The leader was about to argue when Edward saw the eyes of the shortest guy widen in what was clearly recognition. Edward watched as he leant forward and whispered in the ear of the leader; he couldn’t help but smirk as he imagined what he was saying. The demeanour of the leader changed instantly; Edward could see him weighing his options. Was the car worth it? He had to choose between either acting like the tough guy he thought himself to be and make a move that would more than likely end him in minutes or turn around and forget what he’d just seen…

“Have fun with that, man.” ___Smarter than you look…___ Edward thought to himself. With that, the men all backed away and faded into the night. Edward sniffed before looking back down to the woman in his arms. With a deep breath, Edward got back to what he was doing before being interrupted. He laid her on her side in the car’s trunk and then reached into the back pocket of his pants to pull out the chloroformed rag. He pressed it against her nose for a few seconds, just to make sure she was well under then tucked it under her cheek to ensure she wouldn’t wake before he wanted her to.

Another quick look around to ensure he was alone was all he took before getting into his car and making his way to one of his warehouses that was set up for this very scenario. Once there, he opened the large roller door and drove his car inside. To anyone who happened to come across this place, it would seem like any other abandoned warehouse, but he often used its hidden rooms for just this type of work. Walking over to one such room, he quickly gathered the tools needed...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Edward walked over to the unconscious woman and looked down at her. He knew that he could probably have found someone less marked than her but he didn’t have time. Old man Swan to going to understand that he had no other option but to bow to Edward’s demands, just like he should have done in the beginning.

He took a breath, picked up the pliers in his right hand and the woman’s hand in his left, then cut off the pinky finger. The woman’s face twisted in pain and she let out a sorrowful moan but she didn’t wake. Edward grabbed the towel beside him and wrapped her hand up to soak up the blood then put the finger into the small box he’d picked up when he went to get more food.

It was only about ten minutes later when the prostitute woke up and pain was the first thing she became aware of; her whole arm and into her chest ached and pulsed in agony. She didn’t know where she was or what had happened but all she knew was that she was in more pain than she’d ever experienced and that was saying something.

“Stop screaming or I’ll knock you out again.” The man’s voice behind her made her jump in fright and that’s when she realised that she was strapped down on something hard, like a table.

She couldn’t help the whimper that came out of her as she struggled; she knew she was in serious trouble. “What’s going on? Who are you? What have you done to me?”

“What’s going on is that you’re here to help me achieve a goal. It doesn’t matter who I am; you don’t want to know and to what I’ve done to you…. well, you don’t want to know that either. So shut up and get comfortable, you’ll be here for a while. If you’d prefer to not feel anything at all or know what’s going on around you, let me know and I’ll keep you flying. It’s the least I can do… for your services…”

“Oh God… please don’t kill me… please… My name is Lauren… please… ” she whimpered. She’d heard what he said and what he meant but between her craving and the pain she was in, his words weren’t important. “I’m in pain… you got somethin’? I need a hit man… please.”

Edward looked on dispassionately but then pulled out a syringe from the draws of the cabinet he was leaning against and walked over to Lauren. He quickly administered the drug into her system and watched as her eyes rolled and a small smile pulled at her mouth. As he stared at her, he couldn’t help but wonder what she’d looked like before her shitty life got a hold of her, probably really pretty. He looked across her now relaxed body to the roughly bandaged hand and thought that she was lucky that he’d only taken a finger. He picked up a new rag and poured some chloroform onto it and rested it over her nose and mouth; it would keep her out until he could get back.

The next stage of his plan involved him driving to the well-known area where punk assed street kids and the long time homeless congregated. In the weeks he’d been off grid, watching Bella, Edward’s normally pristine appearance was looking a little rough, but it served a purpose. Before leaving the warehouse, he grabbed the hoody from the rear of the car and put it on; a suit jacket wouldn’t do him any favours where he was going.

It didn’t take long for him to find the one who would deliver his ‘incentive’ package. Edward pulled the hood up and donned his sunglasses; he found that people tended to look at themselves in the mirrored surface rather than the one wearing them and that’s what he needed right now.

He pulled over to the side of the street and turned the car off. Then he waited while staring at the kid who would be his messenger. In this neighbourhood, a car idling on the side of the road didn’t take long to be noticed. So when the kid looked his way, Edward got out of the car and pointed to him. After a moment’s hesitation, the teenager made his way over to Edward.

“You wanna earn some money?” Edward asked in a well-practiced Irish accent.

“You a cop?” The boy asked.

“Do I look like one?” Edward asked with a snort. “No, I’m not… I have a job that needs to be done, you want it or not?”

The kid’s eyes narrowed warily but his curiosity was too much. “How much money you offerin’?”

“A hundred; just deliver something for me and if you do a good job, I may need you again in the next day or two.”

“Sure, why not.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Take this,” Edward said handing over the small box and a piece of paper, “…to this address. Do _not_ open it, do _not_ ask what it is, just deliver it and walk away.”

Once more the boy hesitated, but then looked up. “Not a bomb?”

“Not a bomb; not in the ‘boom’ sense anyway, but when they see what’s inside, I’m sure expecting fireworks… Still want the job?”

“Yeah…” As the kids went to walk past to complete the ‘job’, Edward reached out and grabbed his arm…

“Do _not_ open that box. I’ll be watching you the whole time.” The threat was unmistakeable, even to a kid. After giving a nod of understanding, Edward let him go and watched for a few seconds before getting back into the car.

As he drove towards the Swan residence, Edward hoped that he would finally get what he wanted and this whole dilemma would be over in a matter of hours. Isabella could go home and he could get… what was taken from him. Edward refused to think about what it would mean to him and his family for this deal to not go as he wanted. He needed a clear head and if he thought too much on what was really at stake, he’d make mistakes… And he wasn’t someone who made mistakes.

After parking his car a block away, Edward made his way to a vantage point where he could watch the drop happen. It was about ten minutes later when the kid came into view. When he approached the gates to the Swan residence, he looked around and walked over to the intercom. Edward couldn’t hear what was being said so he looked further up the driveway to see if anyone was coming to meet the kid. Movement from the left of the drive caught Edward’s eyes seconds before the kid noticed too. Words were spoken and a few tense moments passed before he pushed the box through the rungs of the wrought iron gate. The guard lifted the lid but when his eyes darted back up, the kid was gone… just like he’d been told to do. Edward smiled as he watched the guard glance around before turning to run towards the large white home.

Now for the fireworks…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Edward’s ‘vantage point’ came in the shape of a house that stood on the opposite side of the road to the Swan residence and a couple of doors down. The owners were ‘acquaintances’ of Edward’s family and after a quick phone call he made during his search for his delivery boy, they vacated to give him privacy. After arriving, he ran up to one of the side balconies where he would remain unseen and waited.  
Not five minutes had passed after his incentive had been delivered that Edward’s phone started to vibrate in his hand. He pressed the button with a smirk… Charles Swan started speaking without any preamble…

“You’ve really fucked with the wrong people you sick _fuck_ … You’re gonna pay dearly for the pain you’ve inflicted on my daughter.” Edward nearly laughed at the rage in old man Swan’s voice.

“Oh, I’m shaking in my boots, old man. Can you hear my bones rattling?”

“You think this is funny, fuckwit?”

Edward’s humour died instantly. “Funny? No… I find nothing funny about this whole fucking situation other than your anger old man…”

“Do you honestly think that you can do something so heinous to my daughter and I’m just going to let you get away with that, with no repercussions?”

“Yes… I gave you a chance to finish this nicely; you fucked that chance Swan, so really it’s _your_ fault that your daughter only has nine fingers now. Twice I told you to give back what you took, twice you ignored me… You’ve run out of chances to rectify your mistake and there’ll be no more asking, just telling… I’m _telling_ you, give back what’s mine, fuck with me again and next time you’ll get a leg. So are you as intelligent as I’ve found your daughter to be, old man or did she get her brains from her mother?”

As the torrent of abuse came through the line, Edward could no longer hold in his laughter; he loved this game. In some ways he didn’t want it to end just yet; there was nothing more satisfying than to watch others squirm when they tried to play these sorts of games with him… It was one of the many reasons he wouldn’t let anyone else do this job.

“Now, this is how it’s gonna go, Swan. You’ll drop off what’s mine to a location that I’ll give you once you’re on the road and then you’ll get your daughter back. Fuck with me again, and you’ll be buyin’ her a wheelchair. Are we clear?”

Heavy breathing was all Edward could hear. “When?”

Edward looked at his watch and found that it was only just after 10 pm. Factoring in the time it would take Swan to get to the drop off point and for him to get back to where he was keeping Bella; he decided that it would happen the next night.

“Be ready to leave at eight tomorrow night. Oh and Swan… if my goods are damaged in _any_ way, you’ll regret it more than you regret anything else in your life… you hear me?”

Nothing more was said, just the tone signifying that the call had been disconnected. Now Edward had to wait to see just how smart the old man really was. He quickly made his way back to his car and then followed what he thought was the kids way back to where he’d come from; it didn’t take him long to catch up to him.

“You did good kid…” he said, switching back into the Irish brogue once more. “I’ll be back if I need you again.” Then he pulled out a couple of notes and handed them over before driving off. As he drove, he thought about what he knew of the Swan family and it’s male members and what he’d come to learn about Isabella and for the life of him, Edward couldn’t work out how she turned out the way she did.  
Edward walked into the warehouse that he’d left Lauren in, contemplating what he was going to do with her that night. He knew that Bella was safe where she was but he was reluctant to stay away, leaving her for the whole night on her own, he also needed to get a few hours’ sleep if he was going to be on the ball for the exchange the following night and that wouldn’t happen if he was thinking about her all night. He walked over to where Lauren laid still unconscious and stared at her while planning out the next 24 hours. Making a decision, he released the bindings and lifted her up off the table and once more placed her in the trunk of his car.

When he got back to where he was holding Bella, he sat for a while thinking of what he’d do once this was all over with. One thing he knew for sure was that he’d make Charles Swan pay for ever thinking he was big enough to play with the Cullioni family. He just had to decide if there would be one lone survivor of the Swan family or if it was in his best interest to stop a woman bent on revenge before she even started. He determined that he was too tired to think of it at that very moment, so he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

-x-

Bella was sitting with her back against the door… a door she’d spent hours banging against; her hands were almost as raw as her throat. She was hungry and filthy and cold and pissed off. When she heard noise on the other side of the door, she stumbled to her feet. She thought about yelling out more obscenities but her throat was too sore.

Edward put the still unconscious woman onto the bench that lined the far wall and placed the rag onto her face once more. He didn’t need her waking up and making matters worse but he couldn’t kill her yet, Swan may decide to be a total fuckwit the next night and Edward may need to send another message… Looking at the woman’s legs, he realised that he’d never be able to send one of them, the sores were a dead giveaway. He looked to her bare feet where there were only a few lesions. He realised that he’d have to scrape the skin to disguise them, make them look like she’d been in a struggle… “Hmm, that’ll have to do.”

He walked over to the monitor that sat on the small desk and watched as Bella stood facing the door; she’d obviously heard him come in. He thought about the last time he was in there with her and if he should give her the bucket of warm water to clean herself with or not. Coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t her fault her father was a prick, he got up and once more boiled some water. When that was done, he picked up a handful of the rags he had with him and what was left of some soap at the sink. Once he had his goggles on and had turned off the lights, he walked to Bella’s door. “Move away from the door Isabella.”

He watched as she did what she was told and then he entered the room.

“Where were you?” She asked. Immediately, Edward heard the scratchiness in her voice and he wondered why. Hopefully she wasn’t getting sick… that was one thing he could do without. As he placed the bucket in front of her, he spoke up once more.

“Doesn’t matter, hold out your hands.” Bella knew better than to argue again. Her brows drew together at the soft feel of cloth, she didn’t understand. “There’s a bucket of warm water in front of you, you can clean up a bit if you want. I’ve given you about five or six rags and some soap.”

Bella couldn’t understand the sudden feelings that burst up. She was unbelievably grateful for this small act of kindness; she felt awful and to be able to clean up with warm water almost had the words, ‘thank you’, spilling out of her mouth… “Why are you doing this?” She asked instead.

“Because it’s not your fault your father’s a dick.”

Bella couldn’t argue that point; her father was a dick in a lot of ways but she never thought her father would ever let anything bad happen to her. She knew that her brothers were more important to him because of the ‘family business’ but she thought he’d anything to get her out of a situation such as this, but he hadn’t so far… “Do you have anything for a headache?”

Edward watched as her brow furrowed, he could see she was in pain. It wasn’t something that he liked seeing and that along with her scratchy voice had him worried. “I’ll have a look. Are you getting sick?”

“No, just a bad night… it is night isn’t it?”

Edward didn’t say anything as he took in her appearance; he wondered why her night would have been bad. Her hands did sort of look a little rougher than they did before but through the goggles, he couldn’t be sure. “Yes it’s night-time.” Without thinking, he reached out and took one of Bella’s hands with his own, the action making her flinch. Turning it over, he could see what he thought were the start of bruises. He looked up in understanding and found Bella looking back at him unashamedly… she may not be intentionally provoking him but she wasn’t going to take her situation lying down either and she wasn’t scared of him knowing it; her strength made him smile. Gently, he lowered her hand then turned to walk back outside.

“You gonna go to watch me bathe too? Let me know if there’s something you’d like to see.” Bella said before she could stop herself.

Edward couldn’t stop the wide grin that took over his face.

“Well, if you’re going to make it worth my while, I may just do that Isabella. Make it a good show and you never know what I might bring back with me.” Shutting the door behind him, Edward couldn’t help but laugh under his breath as he took the goggles off. He turned the lights on before rummaging around in the cupboard under the sink and the shelf above it. Not finding what he needed, he checked on Lauren and then picked up his keys. It wasn’t until he was halfway to the all night drugstore that he realised what he was doing.

“Shit…” he cursed under his breath. His men would think him soft; running around after his captive like a gopher, he was more than a little annoyed at himself but he knew he wouldn’t rest that night knowing Bella was in pain. She was a good woman, no matter who her family was.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

 

When Edward finally returned, he took the rag off Lauren’s face; after all he didn’t want her dying just yet. She wouldn’t start to wake for at least an hour anyway, so he put his goggles back on and went back into Bella’s room with some aspirin, a plastic cup of water and the surprise he’d got her…

“Hold out your hands.” He said once again. He smiled as she complied without delay. As he put the tablets in her hands, tingles once again spread up his arm like it had the day he’d taken her… he had no idea what was causing it. “It’s aspirin.”

The relief on her face was tangible. “Do you have water too?” He moved the white plastic cup to her waiting hand and watched as she swallowed them down without question. He was pretty sure that he would not have done the same thing in her situation; he could have given her anything.

“How do you know I didn’t give you something other than Aspirin?”

Bella rolled her eyes and then grimaced as the action caused more pain that she already had going on…“If you wanted me dead, I would be by now… Am I wrong? Plus, you wouldn’t have given me a bucket of warm water to wash in and you most certainly wouldn’t have given a shit if my head exploded right now, so I’m gathering that the tablets were exactly what you said they were...”

“Mmm…” _Too bloody smart_ … Edward was fascinated by how her mind worked. Summations of everything that happened to and around her seemed to happen naturally… I hand her tablets and without wondering if she should question me on if they’re really what I say that are or not, she automatically came to the conclusion that she did… That wasn’t something the majority of humanity did.

Maybe it was the fact that the room had no windows and lacked air circulation but it took a little while for Bella to become aware of a whole different smell in the room, one that she’d been longing for… “Is that mine?” she asked hopefully, with a now watering mouth…

“Well, you did put on such a good show earlier…” Edward said smiling.

Bella didn’t know whether to believe him or not but she was pretty sure she didn’t do anything to be embarrassed about when she washed earlier, so without replying, she held her hand out to receive her first cup of coffee in she didn’t know how long. After giving it to her, Edward moved backwards until he met the door and then slid down to the ground. It was quiet in the room as he watched her sip her coffee.  
As much as he wanted to keep things easy between them, he knew he needed some answers, answers only she could give him. So, without taking his eyes of her, he asked the most pressing one he had. “How smart is your father, Isabella?”

Bella was surprised that her captor was hanging around this time as well as his question but it also confused her. “Why do you ask?”

“Do you not know?”

God, she hated when people answered questions with questions… Bella’s head dropped as her thoughts went wild but she tried to put her answer together as carefully as she could. “Recent events have made me re-evaluate a lot of what thought I knew about my father, but if you think that I know anything about his ‘business’ that would be beneficial to you then all I’ve got to say is that I’m afraid you took the wrong Swan offspring.”

Once more her voice held no fear; it made him smile. “Oh, don’t worry, Isabella, I know everything I need to know where your father’s business is concerned, I always have but what I want to know right now is how _smart_ you think he is?”

Bella tried to work out what he was getting at but couldn’t and she didn’t want to say anything that may inadvertently put her in more hot water than she already found herself in, so she answered as best she could. “If you’re asking if he’ll do as you want because you have me, then I’d have to say again that recent events have changed my mind about my father and… you took the wrong Swan offspring.” Even though she couldn’t see an inch in front of her, her gaze did not waver. She believed what she was saying and that pissed Edward off, probably more than her non answer. Even growing up in the family he did, he never doubted his parents love for him and his siblings.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that he was plenty pissed on your behalf when I delivered him a message tonight, don’t you worry about that.”

Bella didn’t know what to make of what her captor had just said so she decided to ask the questions she most wanted answers to. “Can I ask why me? What has my father done to warrant all of this?”

“Your father took something that he shouldn’t have, something that he better take good care of if he wants to see you again.” Anger had leached into Edwards’s voice, anger that Bella heard loud and clear. She tried to think of something that she’d seen or heard of in the week before she’d been taken, but she was coming up empty. Since moving out into her own apartment, she rarely heard anything to do with her family business.

Edward needed to get himself under control… so he grappled for something else to talk about. “Is there something else you’d like to eat?” He asked.

He saw the quick smile that pulled at Bella’s face before she looked down. “Some chocolate would be heaven right about now.”

 _Of course_ … Edward thought to himself, he knew very well how much Bella loved her coffee and chocolate, he hadn’t thought to get any as he didn’t think she’d be with him for as long as she had. “Anything else?”

“This isn’t some… last meal thing, is it?”

Edward couldn’t help but laugh, he was surprised that her dry sense of humour was still there. “No… no last meal thing.”

Bella’s fingers rubbed at her temples as she smiled and nodded her head. “Some pasta would be good.” She was desperately craving some carbs.

“Okay, I can do that.”

A silence came over them that wasn’t exactly awkward, but Bella still felt the need to say something. “I want to ask you something but I don’t want you to take it the wrong way… I’m just… curious.”

Edward wondered what she was going to ask. What he knew of Bella, it could be anything. “Ask away; can’t say I’ll answer, but you can ask anyway.”

“Okay… well… I know that I don’t exactly _know_ you but what I’ve been able to tell, you don’t seem to be all that bad.” Edward fought hard not to laugh… if only she knew the real him… “I know that most people would consider the fact that you kidnapped me to be indicative of the type of person you are but in the time I’ve been here, you haven’t hurt me, you’ve given me a blanket when you didn’t have to, warm water to wash in, halfway decent food… If you were truly bad, my comfort in this situation wouldn’t matter one iota. So that tells me that you’re not… bad, maybe just in a bad situation that you’re trying to rectify as best you can.”

Edward didn’t know how to take what she’d just said. This wasn’t his first kidnapping and she was right, he’d never been worried over his captives comfort before. “And your question in all that is….?”  
  
“You’re not… bad, so how did you get _here_ , in this situation?” Bella asked.

Edward could see where she was going with this and he wondered how in-depth he was going to answer, if at all, so he took a minute to think. “You’re right in one way; you _don’t_ know me and I’m pretty sure that your opinion on my ‘badness’ would be different if you did.”

Bella started to shake her head even before Edward had finished speaking. “I, more than anyone know that the life you live isn’t always one of your own making, sometimes it’s what you’re born with. And the life you’re born with doesn’t determine how mean your heart is.”

“No, but it can determine how mean your heart has to be to survive.” Something in Bella’s eyes had Edward going over what he’d just said. It was like she’d just found out something. “But I’ve already told you that your father has something of mine and until he gives it back, you’ll stay with me.”

“When is he giving _it_ back?”

“Tomorrow… if he’s smart.”

“Ah… okay, now I understand. In that situation, my father’s intelligence doesn’t come into it, his stubbornness does. And he’s _very_ stubborn.”

“Are you telling me that you don’t think you’re going home tomorrow?”

Bella started biting the inside of her cheeks as she thought about his question. “I’d probably have plan B ready if I were you. I’d like to say yes, that he’ll do whatever you want, but he’s… by the book so to speak and if it comes between a choice of backing down and looking like a fool in front of his men even when he’s wrong… or sticking to his guns and maybe losing big time, well, let’s just say that he hasn’t always made the right choice in the past.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

* * *

 

Edward thought that by her choice of words, Bella was saying that Charles Swan has been in a similar situation before and if that was true then then maybe a ‘Plan A, part 2’ was in order more than a Plan B at this stage.

Edward looked around the room and his eyes landed on the rags that Bella had used to clean herself with, a thought came to him. “Okay then, maybe we need to ensure that your father doesn’t fall into old habits and for once in his miserable life, he’ll make the right choice.”

“How?” Bella asked. While she couldn’t say that she was scared, she was feeling a little apprehensive by the calculating tone to Edward’s voice.

“Hold out your hands.” He asked as he stood up from the floor. Again, Bella didn’t think he was about to hurt her but at times her dangerous curiosity won out over her apprehension and she did what he asked. Edward picked up a rag and wrapped it around one of her hands, folding her pinky finger in towards her palm, all while the strange sensation he associated with touching her skin pulsed up his arms. The action confused Bella at first but a few reasons for his actions popped into her head. But now was not the time to overstep the boundaries of this new ‘understanding’ she found herself in with Edward, so she bit the inside of her cheek in an effort to shut up. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

With that Edward went back outside to check on his other ‘guest’ and to grab his phone. Papa Swan needed another little push. Coming back inside Bella’s room to find her now standing, he watched as she fiddled with her bandaged hand and chewed on her lip. “Did tonight’s message to my father include a body part that I’m supposed to be missing now?” Bella asked without looking up.

Edward’s hands stopped fiddling with his phone for a second and he smiled at how quickly she put everything together; he liked how smart she was; it was a quality he admired most in his mother… Esme Cullioni certainly kept his father on his toes; she never missed a thing. It was only then that Edward realised just how much Bella was like his mother.

“Yes, just be thankful it wasn’t _your_ body part.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I am. Am I going to keep losing body parts?”

Edward snorted out a laugh. Slowly he made his way over to where she stood. “Well, that depends on how _stubborn_ your father is, now doesn’t it.” He said in a voice he normally used when flirting.

Bella looked up to his face even though she still couldn’t see him; there was no fear there, if anything the small smirk she wore almost spoke of playful participation. “So what’s next, dungeon master… another finger, an arm maybe?”

“A leg!” He watched her mull that over and he could tell she had a question right on the tip of her tongue… probably where he was getting the ‘body parts’, as she called them. He wondered if she was actually going to ask. When she didn’t, he spoke up instead. “As I said, Isabella, you don’t know me; I’m not as good as you think I am, so don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answers to.”

“Will you ever tell me what my father took from you?” Bella asked. Her emotions were all over the place and while she was tired, cold and scared of her situation, she wasn’t exactly scared of the man she called ‘Edward’. With every visit she felt more and more comfortable in his presence. One thing she didn’t want to admit though was that ever time he’d been this close to her; his scent was becoming more appealing.  
He could have hurt her so many times since he’d taken her and he hadn’t, he’d actually shown her kindness, and while she was under no illusion that he was a very dangerous man who could more than likely kill her before she even knew it was coming, she didn’t think he would. After he’d left her with the bucket of warm water, she’d really thought a lot about her captor, only one thing niggled at her… she wanted to know what he looked like.

Edward’s eyes never left Bella’s face; he was fascinated by the silent thoughts he could see going on behind her eyes. What he wouldn’t give to be able to hear them… “Why do you want to know what he took from me?” Edward asked.

Bella shrugged her shoulder a little before speaking. “I don’t know, I guess I want to know what my life is being bartered over.”

Edward raised his hand up so that his fingers ghosted over her lips without actually touching them, being this close to her had him wondering if they were as soft as he’d often imagined them to be. He knew she couldn’t see him and knowing that she couldn’t, turned him on like never before. He leaned back slightly, just enough to really take in her soft curves. She was incredibly beautiful and very much his type so thoughts of pushing her up against the wall and wrapping her legs around his waist ran through his mind untethered.

Edward’s mouth watered at the images and forced him to swallow hard before taking a deep breath. “He took my sister.” He whispered.

Bella gasped, that wasn’t what she was expecting; a stolen drug shipment or guns maybe but not his sister. She tried to think of a woman that had been around the house lately, even just the mention of someone knew but she was coming up empty. “Your sister? I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“I know you didn’t, Isabella and I’m sorry that you’ve been pulled into this mess. It took me nearly a week to find out who had her. I told your father to let her go or there’d be consequences he wouldn’t like but he didn’t listen. When he ignored the second chance I gave him, one I rarely give others who have crossed me… well…” Edward’s voice became more and more sinister as he spoke, he couldn’t think straight when his sister’s life was on the line. “…he’s forced my hand now Isabella and now, here you are.”

Something he’d said before niggled at Bella’s mind though. “Why would my family target your sister?”

Edward leant forward, only a hair’s breath away from Bella’s ear when he spoke, an action that caused a shudder to ripple down her spine; she only hoped he didn’t see it. “Because he thinks he can take on _my_ family… and _that_ was your father signing _his_ death warrant.”

Bella wasn’t stupid. She’d grown up in an organised crime family; she knew what Edward’s words meant… She swallowed heavily before speaking. “ _Your_ family… as in…?”

As he looked down at her he realised that even in her pretty much unwashed state, Bella appealed to him with an unusual intensity, so he chose to indulge and stay exactly where he was. It only took a moment for Edward to make up his mind about telling her the truth; he couldn’t wait to see if she knew of him.

“Cullioni, my name is Edward Cullioni.” Bella’s eyes closed as the full ramifications washed over her. _Yeah, she knows who and what I am,_ Edward thought to himself. “Your guess of my name a few days ago was eerily spot on, Isabella. But your father took my sister and that was an error of judgement that he _will_ pay for dearly, make no mistake.”

Behind her eyes, Bella’s mind whirled. If Edward came through with his threats, she would not have any family left… she was pretty sure that she would be included in his revenge against what her father had done, and for that, she hated her father like never before. As soon as she grew old enough to realise what sort of man her father really was, the man he became after her mother died, she dreamed of disappearing, of making a life for herself with a family that she knew loved her and would protect her… Her college plan was one that she hoped could give her a skill to survive in hiding but after everything that she’d dreamed and planned, it hadn’t been enough and now the time had come. A tear fell and made its way over the swell of her cheekbone.

Edward was amazed at watching all the emotions play out over her features. Finally, after all this time, he saw a glimpse of fear. Whether it was of him, of losing her family… of dying, he didn’t know but he could tell she was scared of something. Another thing he saw was realisation and then defeat that preceded a single tear that fell down her cheek, he instinctively reached out and wiped it away… he didn’t like it.

“You and my sister, the only two innocents in this whole mess, Isabella and for that I _am_ sorry, you didn’t deserve any of this.”

Without any thought, Bella’s hand snapped up and around Edward’s wrist. “Let me see you… please…” She couldn’t understand what was going on with her. She’d never laid eyes on him but she knew with everything in her that she needed to see his face. She whispered, “…please Edward.”


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

* * *

 

Of course Bella had heard of his family, she suspected that _everyone_ knew of the Cullioni’s, they were probably the biggest and most feared families in Chicago. They were also the proverbial thorn in her father’s side. She didn’t know a lot about Edward’s family, only the few snippets she could remember overhearing in the heated discussions spat out between her father and brothers when they didn’t know she was there, but they didn’t add up to the man she was getting to know. Sure he was dangerous, very dangerous, she had no illusions of that but not once did his presence scare her; at least up until the point where Edward had said his name.

Throughout everything she’d been through, Bella had found it somewhat easy to keep her spine straight and her tongue sharp, to not ‘lose it’ in her pitch black prison, but now she wasn’t so sure if she could keep it up. She wished she hadn’t asked for the answers he gave her because now knowing who had her only made her situation all that more unwinnable in her eyes. A small voice was telling her to give up, but she knew she wouldn’t. If she was going to die, she’d do it on her own terms and she wanted to see Edward’s face.

Edward didn’t know why she felt the need to see him and he was pretty sure it was probably the worst thing he could do at this point but he was past the point of caring, nor could he think of one reason why he should deny her the very thing he wanted so damn much. There’d been times over the last week where he’d had flashes of them laughing or kissing…or more. They were nice flashes. “I’d have to go outside first; the light switch is out there. You’ll need to close your eyes as you’ve been in the dark for a while.” Bella nodded her head in understanding and let go of his arm as she felt him move away from her. “I’ll be back soon.”

Once he left the room, Edward walked over to the still unconscious prostitute and sighed heavily. “Got myself in a right old mess now, haven’t I Lauren…” he mumbled down to her. Even though he’d always known who she was, Isabella Swan had never been on his radar because of who her father was but she was firmly on his radar now… very much so. With her strength and spirit, her brains and self-confidence, she was exactly the sort of woman that turned him on, both in mind and body. “Shit…”

After putting his night goggles on the small desk that held the monitors, he walked over to the light switch outside Bella’s holding room. Unconsciously, he ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm his nerves. Surprised, he realised that he was nervous… It was a feeling Edward wasn’t used to and he wasn’t sure it was something that he particularly liked. “Close your eyes.” He called out before flicking on the light switch.

Seeing her again with his own two eyes pleased him immensely. Isabella Swan was a stunningly beautiful young woman, dirt and all… He was also _normally_ a smart man, one not prone to sticking his head in the sand when ‘sticky’ situations came up, so he quickly admitted to himself that in the short time he’d been around Bella, he’d grown quite attached to her, more attached than he ever thought he’d be to _any_ woman.

His mother would be ecstatic in any other circumstance. He scoffed at the irony.

When Bella heard the door open and Edwards footsteps come towards her, she waited a few seconds before she tried to open her eyes. As he’d said, the light hurt and it took a while of squinting and blinking for her eyes to adjust. When they did, she only just managed to hide her shock. The Edward Cullioni that stood before her was not what she was expecting. She wasn’t sure exactly what she pictured… maybe some ugly, big nosed, hairy Italian thug, but that was most certainly not what he was. He was drop-dead gorgeous yet all male, probably the best looking man she’d ever seen even with all that scruff on his face. She had no doubt that his deep green eyes could most likely render any woman speechless… including herself if her current muteness was any indication; his hair could have done with a brush though…  
  
He was also younger than what she expected, maybe early to mid-thirties, which was young to be the head of a family in their world. Being Don of a family took a strong hand, respect and a hell of a lot of fear and that normally took years to build. He stood at least six foot tall probably bigger and even under his hoody she could tell that he was a wall of rock solid muscle. The small lines on his face didn’t age him though; it only made him more attractive to her… in a rough sort of way.

To Edward’s credit, he didn’t comment on the appreciative looks he was getting from the beautiful Miss Swan; he rather liked them and didn’t want to say anything that would stop her hungry appraisal.  
  
“You’re not what I expected.” Bella said at last.

“What did you expect?” Edward asked with a smile; he couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.

“The polar opposite of… you.” Bella said as her cheeks flushed, her hands waving in his direction.

“So… old, short, fat, hairy… ugly…” Edward’s smile morphed quickly into a smirk.

A very unladylike snort escaped Bella before she could hold it in. “Humble too, you forgot that one.” Edward chuckled as he sat down against the wall to Bella’s right. When he patted the ground for her to sit, she suddenly became serious. “Am I going to be included in your… retribution against my family?”

Edward’s smile faded instantly. “That’s a hard question to answer, Isabella.”

“Not really, you said the handover was tomorrow so I’m gathering that you have a plan… Will I walk away or not?”

Edward drew his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. He took a deep breath while trying to put his thoughts together. “Well… you see Isabella…”

“Bella, I hate being called by my full name.”

“Bella… You see, I’m in a bit of a bind. On one hand, I’ve come to know you and I like you a lot; you’re also innocent in all of this, you just happened to be born into the wrong family.” Bella snorted out a humourless laugh. “What?”

“You don’t how many times I’ve thought that very thing. Don’t get me wrong, there are people in my family that I love very much, one in particular that I’d even die for but there are others... well, let’s just say that I think the world would be a better place without them in it…” She said shrugging her shoulders. The best day of her life was the day she moved out of the family home.

Edward was going to ask her to continue but decided to see if maybe the woman herself could tell him what to do so he continued to speak without addressing what she’d just said. “On the other hand by leaving you alive, I run the risk of having you come after me and mine one day for your own retribution. So as much as I don’t want to see you hurt…”

Bella understood what he was saying; she didn’t know how she was going to be able to convince him that she wouldn’t come after him. “Do you know exactly who it was in my family who took your sister?”  
Her question confused him; it was an odd thing to ask after what he’d just told her. “As far as I can tell, it’s just your father… why?”

“My brother Jasper is many things, I won’t even waste my breath trying to defend him but if he’s in on this, it would be under orders. Edward, I’m under no illusions of what he’s capable of but I know with everything in me that he would never lay a hand on a woman, _never_.”

Edward was quiet for a while. “You want me to spare him?”

“After my mother died, my father… changed. Jasper was the only one in my family who even noticed how much pain I was in. I don’t know if it was a twin thing or if he’s just wired like me but…” A tear escaped her eye when she thought of her beloved brother. Bella and Jasper looked nothing alike but their bond was unbreakable.

“What about James?” Edward asked.

Bella looked down and pulled at her dirty shirt. “He’s most definitely _not_ wired like me; he’s our grandfather revisited and then some. There have been times over the years that I think his cruelty and ruthlessness has scared even my father. I wouldn’t be surprised if my father had someone tailing James just to make sure he sees him coming before he gets a knife in his back.” Steadily, Bella looked steadily into Edward’s eyes. “The world would be a better place without _him_ in it, that’s for sure.”

Edward didn’t blink as he studied her face and it didn’t take him long to realise she meant everything she said. He thought about what he’d learnt so far and what she’d asked of him and then abruptly stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Outside of the room, Edward went through the draws of the small desk and found the untraceable phone he had on him. He watched the monitor as Bella wiped away the tears that she’d finally let fall in his absence. With his mind made up and a quick glance at the bench where Lauren still laid, he walked back into the holding cell.

“Put it on speaker and call Jasper. Find out if he had anything to do with taking my sister.”

Bella reached out for the phone in shock. She couldn’t believe he was giving her a chance to save not only herself but her twin… she was right; he wasn’t all that bad. She thought for a second of what number to reach him on and quickly dialed.

“Who is this?” Jasper asked when he picked up.

“It’s me…” Bella said, her voice restricted with emotion. “Jasper…”

“Bells… are you okay? Did you escape?” Jasper’s heart leapt when he heard his sister’s voice.

Bella didn’t know how long she had so she got straight to it. “I’m okay, I’ve been well looked after, Edward’s been really nice to me but no, I’m still here. Jasper…” Jasper couldn’t understand what she was saying and tried to interrupt but Bella raised her voice to get him to shut up… “Jasper, just wait for a minute, please…”

“What’s going on Bella?”

“Did you do what Edward said you did? Did you take his sister?”

Both Bella and Edward could hear the huff of frustration come through the line. “No… I didn’t know until I found her a couple of days after she’d arrived. As soon as I saw her I tried to…”

Something was definitely off, Edward could hear it in his voice; there was too much emotion. “Tried to what Jasper?” Bella asked softly.

“I begged him to let her go. I tried to make it seem like…”

“Jazz, what are you trying to say?”

“I don’t know how he found out; we thought we’d been so careful but obviously not.” Bella’s eyes found Edward’s and they could both see that they knew what Jasper was trying to say.

“Are you involved with my sister?” Edward asked in a controlled voice. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this turn of events.

“No… I’m not _involved_ … I’m in _love_ with your sister as she is with me. I had nothing to do with her abduction so let my sister go you bastard, she has nothing to do with this!”

When he heard Jasper’s declaration, Edward’s eyes closed tight. He couldn’t believe what an absolute fuck up this situation was becoming. Not only was he aware of his own ill-timed feelings for the woman in front of him but now his captive’s brother was apparently in love with his sister!

“See Jasper, this is where I say, ‘you first’… This whole situation would never have come about if your family hadn’t taken my sister, now would it?”

“They’re not _my_ family, blood does _not_ make family.” Jasper growled. “My father knew what Alice meant to me, he _knew_ yet he still took her to teach me a lesson. If he considered me family, he would never have done that. I owe him _nothing_.” Edward’s brow raised in surprise of the venom he heard in Jasper’s voice. It seemed as if the youngest Swan son was just as unhappy with his family as his twin and Edward were. “I’m only still here until I find a way to get her out, then we’re gone.”

“Over my dead body, you’re gone; you’ll take my sister nowhere. If your father is as smart as he thinks he is, then he won’t fuck with me again and all of this will be over with tomorrow night.”

“I told you before Edward,” Bella said in a defeated voice. “…it’s not my father’s intelligence that’s the issue here, it’s his stubbornness and now we know _why_ he took your sister… He’s not going to let this go without a fight.”


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

* * *

 

  
Now that she’d finally laid eyes on the man who’d taken her, Bella had no option but face her feelings, feelings that she’d been ignoring for days, because she felt them solidify around her like a cloak as soon as he came into focus… When she first woke up and realised what had happened to her, she was definitely shit-scared but she’d learnt early in her life how to show no fear; James had taught her well. But as she looked back over the time she’d spent captive, she realised that at no time did she ever feel fear when in Edward’s presence. She definitely feared her situation, but not the man himself.

  
For weeks before he’d taken her, Bella would get the feeling she was being watched, it was a feeling she’d honed over years living with a psycho brother but she just thought it was some of her father’s goons keeping an eye on her after she moved out on her own.

  
Each and every time Edward came into the room he kept her in, that familiar feeling returned, it didn’t take her long to realise that it was because Edward had been the one who she’d felt watching her all along.

  
The feeling she got whenever he was really close however, well that was something very different, especially when their skin touched.

  
It wasn’t until he’d left the room that she remembered seeing him around her regular haunts a few times. They were only glimpses but that was all she needed; he was not someone easily forgotten. She had to stop herself from searching him out in the crowd one day, the desire to run after him was strong but after taking a step forward, she remembered that having an attachment was not in her big plan…

  
But she’d had a lot of conversations with Edward since he’d taken her and knowing what she knew of him now, well, those things didn’t lessen her attraction to him at all; in fact it made her want to know more, a lot more. As had happened before, images of smiles and closeness and heated looks ran rampant behind unseeing eyes but when her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, she scoffed and rolled her eyes at herself. “Idiot…” she hissed under her breath.

  
=x=

  
Edward had to think… about so many things.

  
The situation he found himself in wasn’t anything he ever thought possible, not in a million years and if someone had said that this would happen… well he would have rammed his gun in their lying mouth and shot their brains out. When this job first started out, Isabella Swan was just this young and beautiful tactical weapon in his plan to get his sister back, now she was… more. She was still young but older than her years, she was still beautiful but somehow more than all those weeks ago when he planned all this out… and she was no longer a weapon, though tactical she may still be.

  
After speaking with Jasper and finding out his link to Alice, Edward knew that the situation he thought ‘sticky’ only an hour ago was actually a huge tangled spider’s web, hell… an hour ago he only had to worry about getting his sister out of this alive, now he had Bella and Jasper too.

  
He walked out of Bella’s room on the promise that he’d be back soon after taking care of some things and one of those things was the still unconscious woman lying on the bench against the far wall. He looked down at the phone in his hand and brought up the last dialled number.

  
“Bella?” Jasper asked with hope.

  
“No… Did you mean it?” Edward asked.

  
“I meant everything I said but what specifically were you talking about?”

  
“What you said about my sister for starters.”

  
“Yes, I’m in love with your sister.” Jasper waited to see what other question he needed answering but Edward was silent. “Was that your question or was there something else?”

  
“Watch your tone, Swan.” Edward warned. He shoved his fingers roughly through his hair as he tried to think. “Your sister asked me to save you, to not include you in my plans, now I learn that my sister is only in this situation because of her relationship with you. You put her in your father’s crosshairs and for that I _should_ kill you…” Edward thought long about his next move. “How loyal to your family are you, Jasper?”

  
“What kind of question is that?” Jasper scoffed angrily. “What do you expect me to say, Cullioni… very loyal? That would put me in _your_ crosshairs, but if I say that I’m not… well, that in itself speaks volumes in our world, doesn’t it.”

  
_Normally_ … Edward thought to himself. “Bella is your family too.”

  
Without any hesitation, Jasper spoke up. “Yes she is and I would die for my sister… and yours.”

  
_Fuck_ … Edward squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face in frustration. How the fuck was he supposed to kill the bastard now… “Will he turn up tomorrow night?” Edward asked, not needing to explain himself.

  
“Yes, he will but he won’t be alone.”

  
“I know he won’t…”

  
“No… I mean that he will have more than just who’s in the car with him.”

  
“Mmm… so will I and he won’t know where he’s going until he gets there. As I told your father, he picked the wrong family to fuck with when he took my sister. Will you be there too?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Keep this phone close,” Edward said, “I’ll call you soon. And Jasper… if you want your sister to live through this, you’ll keep your mouth shut and do exactly what I say. I’m not threatening her life; I’m saying that a plan will be in place and if you cross me and try to take matters into your own hands, you risk her as well as Alice.”

  
“My father lost my loyalty the moment he took Alice and used her to threaten me into submission, but Edward… my father isn’t the one you need to keep your eyes on.”

  
“Oh I know, Bella’s already told me about your brother. I’ll call you back.”

  
The next phone call Edward made was one to his brother Emmett, the family cleaner. “Meet me at the hole.” It was all he needed to say when he picked up; Edward knew that it would take him less than fifteen minutes to arrive so he walked over to the desk and pulled out the drugs. He had one last job to do and he didn’t see any reason why Lauren needed to suffer any more than she already had throughout her life. She’d fulfilled her purpose and all without giving him any grief so he’d give her this… a better death than what she would have received on the streets. After filling up the syringe, he walked over and without any remorse, pushed the clear fluid into a vein in Lauren’s arm; it didn’t take long for her heart to stop.

  
When Emmett arrived, the brothers got to work; bodies were easier to dispose of when dismembered. Edward kept aside the foot that would be used as incentive if old man Swan tried anything else while Emmett bagged up the body parts whistling a tune.

  
“You know brother,” Edward said with a smile, “… it’s a little wrong that you take so much enjoyment in your work.”

  
“Well, I would think it’s a good thing really, considering how much work you throw my way. So what’s happening with her?” Emmett asked nodding in the direction of Bella’s room.

  
“The plan has changed.” Edward said as they both set to cleaning up the mess, he then gave his brother a quick rundown of why their little sister was taken and the things Jasper had said, the only thing he didn’t tell Emmett was the part of his changed feelings for his captive. But Emmett was no fool…

  
“Okay, but why this…” he asked pointing to the bags near their feet on the floor. “…why not just cut up the one you took? What aren’t you telling me big bro?”

  
“Because she’s _not_ to be hurt.” Emmett raised a brow at the intensity in Edward’s voice. He knew his brother extremely well so it didn’t take him long to piece it all together and that shocked him more than anything else had in a long time.

  
“Do you have feelings for her, Edward?” When no answer came, Emmett had his answer. The last time Emmett had seen Edward open himself up to anything even resembling an emotional attachment was when he was eighteen. But that was before he was fully inducted into the family business.

  
Edward knew his brother had the answer he was after, so he decided to just get on with it. “The drop off is for tomorrow night at the east side warehouse. We won’t get interrupted there and no-one knows it’s one of ours.”

  
“Which way will you bring them?” Emmett asked. He wanted so much to ask more about the Swan girl but knew it was _not_ the time. He was patient though… when he had to be.

  
“Goose-chase first but make sure Connor watches for stragglers after Parker Street.”

  
Edward worked quickly through a plan for the following night, who’d be stationed where, what fire power was needed and also a fall-back position if things didn’t go to plan.

  
“I hope everything works the way you want it to Edward, of everyone I know, you deserve it the most.”

  
“We’ll see, Emmett… we’ll see.”

  
Once Emmett left, Edward walked back to the room where Bella waited. There was nothing he could do about the smell of bleach, he knew she’d smell it and work out what it was used for but he knew the time had come where she was no longer his hostage. Plus, he was done looking at her through night vision goggles.

 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

* * *

 

  
Bella was deep in thought. She was thinking about the life she had growing up and the people in it, both blood and acquaintance. She thought of the time she’d had so far while at college and the ‘sort-of friends’ that she’d made, but most of all she thought about what her life could be like with a new name, a new identity. It was only a matter of seconds into that fantasy that her new name and life started to mesh with the man who had taken her just over a week before. She knew it was nuts, that she was forming an unnatural attachment to someone she should fear but she was born into a very different lifestyle than the ordinary person… and in some ways, that lifestyle had prepared her for so many things. One being able to roll with the punches and to think on your feet, the other was recognising when to abandon a sinking ship. That left her with a question… What’s my next step? When she finally decided what that step was, she had to think of how to word it to the person who could make it happen and once that was straight she could only hope he’d answer positively.

  
Before going back into the room, Edward watched Bella on the monitor for a few minutes, her face showed much emotion, more than anyone else he knew. She was obviously doing some heavy thinking and Edward was more than a little interested in what was going on in that beautiful mind of hers. Taking a deep breath, he moved to the room and slowly opened the door; by Bella’s lack of movement, it was clear she hadn’t noticed his return.

  
“Bella…” Edward said gently, startling Bella out of her thoughts. “…come outside?” He stood stock still, holding his hand out as he watched her stand and walk towards him. If she was shocked by his request, she didn’t show it as her eyes never left his and her expression never changed as she walked forward. When she was only a foot away from him, she stopped and swallowed down her nervousness.

  
“I want to ask you a question.” She asked. Edward gave a nod and motioned for her to move out of what was her holding cell, but all she could think about was asking him something that in her world was tantamount to disloyalty, so she needed to ask before she lost her nerve. “What would you do if I said I didn’t want to go back to my father?”

  
Edward’s brow lifted at not only her question but at the first sign of nervousness he’d ever seen in her. He understood it and the reason for her heavy thinking only minutes before. “I’d want to know why before making a decision about that.”

  
Bella took a breath as she tried to think about how to say all she needed to so that he’d help her. “You may not believe this but I’ve felt safer being here with you than pretty much any time growing up in my family home. As I told you before, after my mother died, Jasper was my only real safety and I tried to be near him as much as I could but that wasn’t always possible; I grew eyes in the back of my head at an early age. College for me was a way to escape at least for a while but it was always my father’s plan that once I finished, I’d go home and be married off. Needless to say that my expectations of what college would do for me were vastly different to his… But now, after this…I have a feeling that once I’m back in his hands, my father will ensure that I’m married off as quickly as he can make it happen and that my future husband doesn’t live in the US where this can happen again and I’ll be safely locked away in an overseas fortress before you even get home with your sister.”

  
Edward didn’t like any of what she’d just said, especially that last part. He stared at her while he quickly tried to organise his thoughts and then reached out, placing a hand at the small of her back. Without saying a word, he gently pushed Bella through the doorway, motioning for her to sit at one of the two chairs at the desk.

  
She could tell that Edward wasn’t pleased with what she’d just told him and wasn’t sure which part he was upset with the most, all she could do at this point was hope that he’d help her in some way. Once seated, Bella took in the room around her; the smell of cleaning products was strong in the air, namely bleach; she had a decent idea of what men in Edward’s position would have needed that for. She’d never been involved with the dirty side of her family’s business but she wasn’t stupid and for a second she wondered if it had anything to do with her ‘body parts’ donor. But Edward’s voice thankfully interrupted her line of thinking.

  
“You don’t want to get married?” he asked as he sat beside her. She was a little taken back that after everything she’d just said that that was the question he chose to ask.

  
“Of course I do, one day. But I’d like to pick the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. When my father told me that I was to be married, I thought he meant that I had to hurry up and find someone but then he said he had three potential husbands in mind and he just had to pick which one would be a better ally to our family. They’re all much older than me, two are here in the US but the oldest guy is widower in Italy, Arnaldo Scali but he goes by Aro.” Edward’s jaw clenched at the name of Aro Scali, his ruthlessness was well known, even towards his own family; the fact of six wives and three children mysteriously going missing could attest to that. “I put up a bit of a fight when he told me that.”

  
Edward snorted at that image: he could imagine she would. “Sorry… go on…”

  
“My father and I fought for days, neither willing to concede, it ended up with me screaming that I’d kill myself before I married that man. If my father knows one thing about me is that I got my stubbornness from him.”

  
“You, stubborn… really?” Edward said with a smirk.

  
“Anyway…” Bella said rolling her eyes. “I knew that short of somehow getting myself into witness protection and disappearing, I had no real way of getting out of being married but I could postpone it and maybe learn something that could help me disappear, so I proposed a deal. If he let me go to college first; have some sort of life… then I wouldn’t fight him over the marriage. I figured it gave me a few years to work on a plan to get out of it.” Bella looked up into Edward’s eyes to make sure he would hear what she was about to say. “I won’t let my father’s future for me happen.”

  
Edward stared into her eyes and saw the determination, he knew her well enough by now to know she meant what she said. “I won’t let it happen either, Isabella.” Bella could feel the relief wash over her. As he watched the tightness in her demeanour leave her body and eyes, he couldn’t stop what he’d wanted to do for days… he reached out to cup her cheek in his hand and his heart jumped at the feeling coursing through him. “Just say the word and I’ll make sure he never touches you again.”

  
“How?”

  
Edward thought of what was to go down the next night and knew he didn’t have long to reorganise things. He looked at his watch and saw it was nearly 2am… “Do you trust me to make it happen?”

  
“Yes…”

  
“You’ll do whatever I tell you to do, no matter what it is?”

  
“Yes…”

  
Edward couldn’t help but smirk. “You really shouldn’t have said that, Bella. I could demand all sorts of shit that you may not agree with.” She didn’t acknowledge his innuendo, no matter how much she wanted to.

  
“I saw you, you know, before you took me.”

  
“I know.” He nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

  
“I felt you watching me too; it felt like this but all over.” She said as she put her hand over his where it still rested on her cheek.

  
Edward held his breath…“Like what?”

  
“Like the buzzing that I feel every time you touch me.”

  
 _She feels this too…_ Edward thought to himself. He didn’t think about what he did next though, he just did it. He slipped his hand around the back of her head and pulled her to him. The moment their lips touched, his mind went blank. His body heated, his mouth watered and his cock hardened. Their kiss was hard and frantic, both devouring and when they pulled apart to breathe, he delighted to find that she was now straddling his lap. He could tell by the look on her face that she wanted this too but he’d never take what wasn’t offered. “Last chance to say no, Bella, and I won’t _ever_ give you back if this happens between us.”

  
Bella rolled both lips in between her teeth in answer before smiling back at him; she’d never been this forward with anyone before and while logically she knew it was nuts because this man had kidnapped her, her heart was about to beat its way out of her chest in excitement. She couldn’t for the life of her, stop him… she just didn’t want to, every fibre of her being was pulsing in absolute conviction that this was right even though she was more nervous than she’d ever been before.

  
Edward smiled back as he pulled her tight up against him. She gasped as she felt him hard underneath her and again when he stood up. “Wrap your legs around me.” Edward told her. He could see she was nervous and had a good guess why so he wasn’t about to do this on a chair in the room he’d just helped chop up a drugged out prostitute in. Their eyes stayed locked as Edward walked out of the cellar and up the flight of stairs. 


	12. Chapter 12

When they finally got inside the house, Bella’s eyes darted around and took in her surroundings, it wasn’t what she expected. “We’re in a house.”

  
“Yes, changed your mind yet, Princess?”

  
“Nope, not yet.” He expected her to stop him at some point but he was going to take whatever she’d give him, he was after all a selfish man.

  
It didn’t take him long to make his way up to the second story, to the bedroom he kept for himself. He kicked the door shut behind him and then turned around to back her up against it. But before he took her mouth again, he looked down between them and grabbed the hem of her shirt, lifting it up over her left breast. His eyes lifted back to Bella’s as he pulled the cup of her bra down. “Are you a virgin, Bella?” he asked as he rolled her nipple between his fingers. He could feel her heart beating madly under his palm.

  
While not usually an overly huge ‘blusher’, Bella was well aware that she’d blushed on and off constantly for a while now. But when Edward asked if she was a virgin, her face flamed hotter than she’d ever felt.

  
She wasn’t completely inexperienced, but the first and only time she’d been caught in a compromising position by one her father’s minions when she was fifteen had taught her to steer clear of all males; she couldn’t handle the thought of another boy dying because of her. Since then, no male looked at her anyway and then once she finally got to college, her need to keep good grades so her father wouldn’t have an excuse to bring her home was more than enough to keep her away from guys. “Why does it matter?”

  
“I have done many bad things in my life Bella, but I’ve never hurt a woman sexually and I never will. I have to know what I can and can’t do; what you’re ready for and what you’re not.” Edward asked.

  
She could only imagine what his words meant. “Yes, I’m a virgin.”

  
Edward had never been with a virgin before. When he was thirteen, his grandfather told him, _“… the only time you take a woman’s virginity is when you marry one Edward, just fuck women who knew what they were doing.”_ But in the position Edward now found himself in, he realised that he rather liked the idea of taking Bella’s. He pressed himself hard against her body and then licked the shell of her ear. He knew he was being repetitive but he had to give her every chance to back out. “Are you still saying yes, Isabella?” he asked as he bit gently at her lobe at the same time he pulled hard against her nipple.

  
“ _YES!_ Oh God…” she puffed out on a panting breathe.

  
Finally, he took her mouth with his, pushing his tongue inside her hot wet mouth. The feel of her tongue rubbing against his own went straight to his cock, making it pulse harder. His left hand moved down from her ass to wrap around her thigh and the feel of his rough hand against her skin as it moved upwards had her clenching her legs tighter around him. Bella let out a deep moan into Edward’s mouth as his thumb brushed against the saturated cotton between her legs. The heat and wetness left no doubt as to how much she was enjoying this.

  
Edward couldn’t remember the last time he’d been as hard, years maybe, definitely when he was a teenager. For some time now sex had become something to do rather than something to enjoy but as he slipped his thumb under the soft material and finally came into contact with her slick, soft skin, he felt a sense of anticipation. He let out a low rumble of pleasure before kissing her harder.

  
Somehow his mind clicked into gear and Edward took a few steps backwards before turning and lowering them both to the mattress on the floor. Automatically, Bella’s legs opened wider to accommodate his body and when he looked into her deep brown eyes and ran his fingers down her cheek, he knew he had to ask again.

  
“You’re so beautiful, Bella. You have options here; this doesn’t have to go any further; I’ll even help you with your plans to disappear if that’s what you want. No-one will _ever_ find you unless you want them to; you can have a life away from all of this…” Bella shook her head and was going to say something but Edward put a finger over her open mouth, he needed her to understand him… completely. “I meant what I said before Princess; I won’t let you go once this happens.” When Edward continued to stare at her, she reached up and pulled his lips down to hers.

  
It was all the permission he needed, there would be no more asking. His hips slowly rocked against hers and as each piece of dirty material fell away he saw the effect of his imprisonment of her… he didn’t like it.

  
Once completely bare to him, he kissed her lips, the tips of each puckered breast, her navel and the top of her mound before standing up and holding his hand out to her.

  
“What…?” Bella breathed out.

  
“Hold out your hand…” he said with a smirk. When Bella shook her head ‘no’, he rephrased himself. “Take my hand… please.” He was pleased when she smiled and their fingers linked. He bent down to the bedside table and opened the draw where a box of condoms sat. Edward was confused when Bella stopped him.

  
“We don’t need them; I’ve got the implant so I’m good for another couple of years. I didn’t know if I’d ever get to…you know,” she shrugged, “…but I wanted to make sure if I did, that I’d be covered. My life, and the guy’s, would be over if I wound up pregnant.”

  
Leaving the draw open, he kissed her once before moving away from the bed. When she realised he was leading her to the bathroom, she flushed with embarrassment. How could she have forgotten how dirty she was?

  
Edward reached in and turned the water on to heat up before turning back to Bella. Shamelessly, he slowly revealed himself to her. Bella eagerly took in his sculptured torso, his muscular chest had her biting her lip in an effort to stop herself moaning out loud but when his jeans fell to the floor, she whimpered. Muscles and popping veins pointed down one very hard cock; she didn’t know where to put her eyes. The sight made her flush more than she already was, she may not have seen any men this up close and personal before but she could see he was definitely on the larger side of normal. She tried to keep her eyes averted but they were like moths to a flame, they kept going back to it. She was nervous, excited and wriggling as her body on instinct; she didn’t see the small grin on Edward’s face as he watched her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

  
When she saw Edward’s hand in her line of vision, she looked up into his smiling eyes and scoffed, “Could you try not to look so smug, please.” Edward’s rich laughter rang out as she put her hand in his then stepped into the shower. He loved her obvious innocence as much as her fiery strength even when embarrassed.

  
Edward followed then reached around her to grab the soap. “I’m doing this for a few reasons, Bella. For one, I’m hoping you could see it as a metaphorical ‘clean slate’ between us…” he explained as he ran his hands over her slick, wet body. “For two, it’s only right that it be me to wash away the dirt that I forced onto you. And lastly…” Bella’s eyes rolled as he brought his hands up to squeeze both breasts. “I want to make your first time something good… untainted.”

  
Her previous thoughts of why he took her to the shower melted away with his words as she watched his hands move gently over her skin, he was practically vibrating as he took her in while he spoke. He could tell she’d lost weight and he hated himself for doing that to her. Bella on the other hand was so turned on, she just decided to go with the flow and enjoy what he was doing.

  
He saw the moment she relaxed so he moved in close and wrapped his arms around her. She was now covered in soap, front and back and Edward couldn’t help but move his body slowly against hers. The feeling was indescribable… especially when she turned around to face him. The sensation of her slipping against him made his whole body tingle in a way it had never done before. Edward dipped slightly and positioned his now throbbing cock between her legs then grabbed onto her ass cheeks and ground himself against her hips.

  
“Ungh… shit…” Bella moaned out.

  
Rocking back and forth through the slickness that coated the lips of Bella’s pussy, Edward watched as her breaths increased and her pupils dilated; she was breathtaking. He leant forward and kissed, sucked and licked the long column of her neck. He’d never taken the time to just feel a woman like this before, to enjoy the teasing. He knew that from now on, he would be doing this every chance he got.

  
He could tell she was about to cum but he didn’t want that to happen just yet so he moved back to look down at Bella’s face; he took immense pleasure seeing her so turned on. Slowly, he stepped her backwards under the water to rinse off the soap and lingering dirt. He would have liked for her hair to be clean too but he knew he couldn’t wait that long, plus he’d have her back in the shower before too long anyway. Once she was clean enough, he moved her out from under the spray.

  
“Now… where was I?” he said before kissing from her neck down to her amazing breasts. As he feasted from one to the other, his hand moved down to between her legs. He practically purred as his fingers slipped around her softest flesh. They glided soft circles around her engorged clit before giving a little tug, her moans and gasps were making him almost crazy with desire. He couldn’t wait anymore.

  
Bella’s eyes shot open when she felt him drop to his knees. She tensed knowing what he was about to do, she’d never had anyone that close to her down there and knowing it was him… Edward could feel how tense she was as he lifted one leg up and over his shoulder, but he knew that would change soon enough. “Just feel, Bella. Your pussy is beautiful and I can’t wait to feast on you.” He looked at the beautiful body in front of him and realised just how much he liked the idea that no-one had been where he was about to be.

  
With one hand, he opened the lips of her pussy and then took a long, slow lick. He pushed his nose against her clit at the same time he circled her entrance with the point of his tongue. Bella’s eyes clenched shut as did her hands in his hair; her reaction spurred him on as much as her taste. It had been many years since he’d done this and had no intention of stopping until she came down his throat.

  
A long, strong finger circled around her entrance, before slowly pushing inside her body. The feeling had Bella clench tight around him, which earned her a growl. All Edward could think of was how it would feel when she did that around his cock. When Bella felt a second finger push inside her, her toes started to tingle. “Yesss…” she hissed out. The feeling of his fingers stretching her was amazing but it was quickly overshadowed by what his tongue was doing to her clit. The feelings were so immense she had to look down and when she did… Edward was looking straight at her. That was all it took… “ _FUCK!_ ” Bella screamed out as her orgasm hit. It wasn’t her first; she’d managed to get herself off a few times before but it had never felt as like that.

  
When Edward felt her knee start to buckle, he lowered her leg off his shoulder to the floor before standing up again. He’d never seen anything as erotic; he needed to see it again. While Bella’s body jerked with aftershocks, Edward added a third finger, stretching her enough to take him for the first time. His mouth invaded hers in a possessive kiss. His determined tongue probed and rubbed inside her mouth in the same motion as his fingers between her legs; it didn’t take long before she felt another orgasm started to build.

  
He could feel her walls tightening, so he pulled his fingers out and lifted her up. With no regard to how wet they both were, nor the fact that the shower was still running, Edward walked out of the cubicle and back into the bedroom. He couldn’t take his eyes off Bella as he lowered down onto the mattress. He watched her intently as he reached down to position himself against her heated core.

  
“Keep looking at me.” Edward told her as he slowly pushed forward. _Fuck she’s tight…_ Edward thought to himself as Bella’s body accepted him inch by agonising inch. “Fuck… Bella… That’s it beautiful… take me in.” he whispered into her ear. He could see she was uncomfortable but he knew it would get better, so when he felt the resistance of her barrier, he reached down and circled her clit with is fingers. Edward rocked back and forth as he worked Bella back up and as soon as she started to climax, he thrust his cock deep inside, breaking through her innocence.

  
The pinch of pain Bella felt as Edward pushed completely inside of her was sharp but not painful enough to stop her body from continuing to come around his rock solid cock. His hands squeezed her ass cheeks as he rocked in and out of her. His hot breath at her neck and ear had her feet tingling once more; she couldn’t put words to how she was feeling.

  
“I can’t keep… Oh fuck…” Bella’s eyes clenched as Edward sped up, his cock hitting hard inside her. One, two, three thrusts were all it took for Edward to come deep inside her… He yelled out as shocks of pleasure shot out to his extremities; it was the first time he’d ever experienced a full body orgasm and every inch of him felt its fire…

  
“Yeah,” Edward said panting hard against the skin of Bella’s neck, “… I’m _never_ giving you back… you’re _mine_.”

  
Bella giggled just as she started to yawn. Edward looked down into the eyes of the woman he’d so quickly grown attached to and gently kissed her swollen lips. “Thank you Edward, for making my first time a good memory.”

  
“It’ll only get better, Bella.” Slowly, he pulled out of her body and when he looked down and found a small bit of blood on his cock and fingers, he couldn’t help but grin. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a sec…”

  
Edward walked into his en-suite and grabbed a washer from the cabinet. He quickly cleaned himself before walking back into the bedroom. Bella’s eyes were closed and he thought she’d fallen asleep but as he stood looking down at her, Bella’s eyes opened. “I’m so tired.” She whispered drowsily.

  
“I wore you out.” Edward said smiling. He pulled at the sheet that Bella had brought up around her but she had a good grip on it. “I just want to clean you up, make you feel better.”

  
Bella nodded and let go of the sheet. This was still so new to her so having him do this was a little embarrassing for her. “Thank you.” She said as he tossed the washer to the floor.

  
After Edward climbed under the sheet and spooned himself up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her. “I meant what I said Bella, I’m not giving you back.” If Bella was being honest, she was a little concerned that he’d only been with her to spite her father so his words were exactly what she needed to hear. He didn’t see, but she smiled before letting out a yawn.

  
“Sleep Bella, I’m right here.” Edward said with a kiss to her shoulder. It didn’t take long for her to drift off; Edward however was still wide awake. When he was sure she was sound, he got out of their makeshift bed to grab a blanket to keep Bella warm, then grabbed his phone to call his brother. Less than an hour later, a plan was in place to not only get their sister back but to bring Bella and her twin, Jasper, into their fold. 


	13. Chapter 13

Bella could feel the warmth of the sun against her cheek as she slowly fought her way through her sleepy haze. For a moment, she forgot the things that had happened to her over the last nearly two weeks, but as the memories flooded into her head, so did the smell of food…

  
Her eyes opened and she found herself staring at a side on view of a well-muscled male body, a naked one at that.

  
“Good morning, Princess.” Edward greeted. He’d been sitting beside Bella for about ten minutes or so, just watching… he’d also been trying to work out what it was about her that drew him in so hard. When he saw that she was starting to wake, he went down to the kitchen and pulled out the plate of food from the oven that he’d had his brother bring over; he owed her some decent food…at least. It wasn’t the pasta she’d wanted but he didn’t think she’d turn down a good helping of sausages, bacon, fried eggs and waffles with syrup.

  
“You’re still here.”

  
“Where else would I be?” He asked as he bent down to kiss her still slightly swollen lips. “Sit up, I’ve brought you breakfast. I hope you’re hungry.”

  
The smell and promise of food was all Bella’s stomach needed to make itself known. Edward and Bella both laughed as a loud grumble sounded out. “Smell’s good. It had better be something good; otherwise you’ll be going out again.”

  
“Oh really?” Edward asked in amusement. “I’ve got the makings of a mean sandwich downstairs if this isn’t up to your standards.”

  
“Eh, if I never eat another sandwich, it’ll be too soon.” Bella said as she sat up. She didn’t see Edward’s face at first but when she did, she didn’t know what to make of his expression. “What’s wrong?”

  
“I’m sorry… for everything I’ve put you through. You didn’t deserve that.”

  
“No, I didn’t, but what’s done is done, you’ll just have to wait on me hand and foot until I forgive you.” Bella said as she watched him reach for something on the floor. She waited until he looked at her before she started to smile. “Unless you piss me off again, then we’ll be right back at square one.”

  
Edward let out a quick laugh. “Eat your bloody food, you minx.” He said as he handed over the warm plate of food. He smiled as he watched her expression and then shovel the food into her mouth with gusto. He was pretty sure she liked it. “Well Princess…?”

  
“Huh, it’s a step in the right direction.” She said around a mouthful of food. Edward was about to say something when his phone started to ring. He pulled it out of the pocket of his jeans and saw it was Emmett.

  
“What’s up?” he asked.

  
“We may have a bit of a problem.”

  
“From….” Edward had an idea who this was about but he needed specifics.

  
“Daddy dearest and big bad bro… seems like they’re trying to call in favours. I got a phone call about an hour ago from Demetri, they tried to… ‘make plans’ with him; he’s pretty sure he’s not the only one they’ve contacted.” Demetri Markov was a gun for hire, one the Cullioni’s had used on many occasions. They paid him well, not only for the jobs but for his loyalty. Edward wondered how many of his ‘cultivated friendships’ would pay off in this instance.

  
“What time?” Even though the phones were throwaways and the house was fitted out with jammers, they always made sure that they spoke in code with matters like this just in case someone was listening. Edward wanted to know how much old man Swan was offering to have him taken out.

  
“For you… two.” _Two million…_ Edward scoffed; he was insulted that that’s all they thought he was worth. “Hang on, I’ve just got another email come in.” While Emmett was quiet, Edward turned to see Bella had cleaned up her plate of all the food.

  
“How did you get all that down?” He asked her.

  
“You’d be amazed what I can shove down my throat when I’m hungry.” The instant she realised what she’d actually said, Bella’s face flamed in embarrassment, Edward on the other hand roared out laughing. He fell to his side as tears started to fall, he could barely breathe. At first, Bella didn’t know how to take his amusement but then she felt incensed. “Stop laughing, Edward, you know I didn’t mean it that way.”

  
She started to playfully hit him, which only made him laugh more. In an effort to stop her flying fists, Edward grabbed her by the wrists. He pulled her down to him, flipping her onto her back in the process. Looking down into her smiling eyes, he realised what it was about her that drew him in… it was everything. Her eyes, her beauty, her heart, her fire… her ability to make him laugh and the way he felt lighter in her presence, and that was just the start of a constantly growing list in his head. There was not one person alive who would have attempted to hit him like Bella just did and she was the one person who should have every reason to fear him… but she’d never feared him, he knew that now. That connection was there right from the start, for the both of them it seemed.

  
One second he was staring down at her, the next he was moaning out at the taste of syrup on her tongue and lips. Things were getting heated fast but then he thought he heard something. He pulled away and looked around the room. “Oops…” he whispered when he realised Emmett was yelling at him through the phone that lay on the bed beside him. “I haven’t finished with you yet…” His eyes never left Bella’s as he picked up the phone to listen to his brother. “Sorry Emmett, I got distracted, what were you saying?”

  
Bella giggled as she heard a man swearing his head off at Edward.

  
“…think with your big head for a fucking minute. I’m trying to work out how many eyes…”

  
“ _Emmett!_ Shut the _fuck_ up and watch your tone, brother. I know what you’re trying to do so take a deep breath and fucking calm yourself down; tell me what that email was about.” Emmett may be his brother and most trusted man but if anyone was standing around and heard him speak to Edward like that, it could seriously undermine his authority and that was not a good thing when everyone around you were trained killers.

  
“Sorry bro… Okay, I’ve had three emails come in from other ‘acquaintances’, they all read the same, contact has been made. Although, it looks like your worth is increasing…”

  
“Okay,” Edward said taking a deep breath. “… I’ll have my last incentive delivered and let him know that I know what he’s up to. It’ll either make him back off or drive the price up. You never know brother; I could be worth more than Bill Gates by tonight.” Edward realised that posed more trouble for him but he’d just have to hope his reputation would deter certain people until he could finish this.

  
“Not something to joke about Edward. There are a lot of dickheads out there who could think it’s their way out.”

  
“Well, you’re the only one who knows where we are, so I’ll know who to haunt if I’m found… I’ll let you know when the package has been sent.” Edward ended the call and looked over to Bella’s worried eyes. “I was only mucking around, we’re safe here Princess.”

  
“I have a feeling that you don’t take my father all that seriously but you shouldn’t underestimate him, Edward. If he can’t find someone reliable to get the job done, he’ll hire as many sewer rats as he can find.” Bella had seen the street thugs her father had hired for jobs over the years. She’d heard him refer to them as his ‘overflowing cup of desperation’, easily replaced when they fucked up.

  
“Bella, I don’t underestimate anyone; not your father, my father, your brother, my brother… you.”

  
Bella was taken aback by his statement and a little hurt if she were honest. “Me… why me?”

  
“Because I have no doubt you’d be a fierce adversary, Bella.” _Well, when you put it that way…_ Bella thought to herself. “I was born into this life, Princess; I don’t have many memories that have nothing to do with it. I’ve done and seen things that you couldn’t imagine even though you were born into the same life as I was. But being the eldest son, the one that’s been groomed to be exactly what I am… well, I haven’t got this far by underestimating anyone. I’ve made pre-empting others into an art form.” Edward could tell she was going to say more, but he needed to get started on plans so this next part would be handled while getting ready. “Come with me. If you really want to know more then I’ll tell you, but we need to get ready.”

  
Bella took his hand and let him pull her out of the bed, her eyes widened and her face flooded red when her eyes landed on his completely naked body. She averted them to find Edward staring at her with unashamed hunger and realised why… she was naked too. Hastily, she looked down only to be met with a rapidly hardening cock… “Fuck…” She gasped as she closed her eyes.

  
“I don’t know what I like more…” Edward said laughing softly. “Your fire, your sinfully beautiful body, your dirty mouth or that fucking innocent blush… You are a contradiction of terms my beautiful Bella, one I plan on getting to know intimately on a daily basis.” His words lit up her entire being. She looked up at him, her eyes landing hard on his lips and instant before she pounced.

  
It was as if he knew what she was going to do before she did it. The force of her jumping at him made Edward take a step back, but his arms wrapped tight around Bella’s body as his lips took hers hard. Her legs wound around his waist instinctively as he picked her up off the floor; she didn’t understand what was happening to her, she’d never felt this out of control in her life.

  
Somewhere in her lust addled mind, she heard the shower turn on but it was as if her brain was taking a back seat to her body’s needs. “Oh fuck, I need you…” Edward growled out. One hand moved up from where he held her thigh to grip her ass, his long fingers quickly finding her dripping pussy. Slowly but intently, he pushed them into her warm body; her eyes closing with the feeling. He loved how easily she gave over to her body’s desires.

  
Bella gasped and her eyes opened as her back hit the cold tiles. “I’ll never get enough of you Bella, never.” Edward said as he reached between then to position himself at her entrance. With one hard thrust, he pushed himself inside to the hilt. As Bella yelled out, he covered her mouth with his own and set about making her forget about the slight pain he saw cross her beautiful face. “You can take it, Princess.” he mumbled.

  
Edward’s pace had Bella’s head swimming within a few thrusts; he could feel her body clutching him tighter and tighter with every stroke. “Oh God, oh God…” Bella panted.

  
“Open your eyes, Isabella.” Edward ordered, it was a command Bella couldn’t help but comply with. As soon as she focused on his face, on his smouldering green eyes, she fell over into an orgasm that nearly made her black out. The intensity of it was such that Edward couldn’t help but follow, his whole body shuddering and breaking out in goosebumps. He pulled his face away from Bella’s neck and looked into her blissed out eyes and smirked. “What are you doing to me, Bella?” he whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

After finding Bella some satin boxers and a t-shirt, Edward called his brother.

  
“How’s things brother?” Emmett asked.

  
“Can’t complain.” Before he could say more, his brother spoke.

  
“What are you doing, Edward?” Instantly Edward’s hackles rose up, he didn’t like being questioned, especially in that tone.

  
“You know damn well what we’re doing.”

  
“ _We’re_ not doing anything; I’m talking about _you_ fucking our captive.”

  
Edward took a breath and clenched his jaw before walking out into the hallway. When he spoke again, his voice was low, controlled. “Be very careful with what you say next, Emmett, and how you say it.”

  
“Or what, you gonna shoot _me_ , your own brother over a hostage?”

  
“She’s no longer my hostage Emmett, I thought you understood that?”

  
“Edward… she’s playing you. She’s a fucking Swan; she’s probably been taught how to get herself out of situations just like this her whole life. You know as well as I do, women can and do use themselves to get whatever the fuck they want, and she wants to live and to escape… and she’s fucking all common sense right out of your brain.”

  
“She’s not playing around, Emmett.”

  
“Oh really?” he let out an unamused snort. “Did she tell you some sob story before she opened her legs? I bet she’s had some good teachers in her life…”

  
Edward cut him off before Emmett said something that was going make him forget that he loved his brother. “Not that you deserve to know, _brother_ … but she was a virgin.”

  
“Uh-huh, even if that’s true, you think she still wouldn’t use what God gave her to get your guard down, Edward.”

  
“Emmett, because I _know_ that you’re only looking out for me, I’m going to forget this conversation took place but one more word on this and my memory will return. Understand me brother?”

  
“Fine.” Emmett’s reply was short but Edward heard everything his brother wasn’t saying… _‘You’re wrong’… ‘She’s gonna betray you’… ‘Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you when I’m proven right.’…_

  
Before Emmett pissed him off anymore, Edward spoke. “Call the capo’s and get them over here; we need to get tonight’s plan finalised. I need to send the reminder to Swan, so the men have an hour or two before they need to arrive.” He thought about what Bella was currently wearing and while he rather liked it, he didn’t want the other men to see her this way, so he walked back into the bedroom to find her standing at the window. By the look on her face, Edward was pretty sure she’d heard what his conversation to Emmett was about. “What size clothes do you wear?” he asked when she looked at him.

  
“A two… why?”

  
“Get Rose to grab some size 2 clothes for Bella… jeans, t-shirt and underclothes. And more food too, we’re starving.” He ended the call before his brother could say anything else.

  
“He’s right you know.”

  
“About what?”

  
“I may have only heard your side of the conversation, but I’m pretty sure I know what he said… Something along the lines of women doing whatever they had to do to achieve what they wanted in certain situations. I would expect being kidnapped with the very real possibility of not living at the end of it, to be one of those situations.”

  
As Edward stood in the doorway and looked at Bella, he took in her words. His ‘spidey-senses’ as his father would say, weren’t firing. His ability to _read_ people had always been his gift, he knew when people were lying to him, he knew subterfuge… he had a PHD in that shit and he knew with everything in him, the woman in front of him was as real as they come. “Are you telling me that I should kill you right now, Bella… before your plan of deception through sex has a chance to succeed?”

  
“You could, but then you’d never really know, would you? And that would be an itch you’d never be able to scratch for the rest of your life.” She could see that Edward was trying his utmost not to smile so she thought she’d help it along. She cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

  
“Sassy wench…” he muttered as he gave in. As he walked towards her, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her legs. They were thinner than they should have been and he had every intention of rectifying that over the next couple of weeks; he couldn’t wait until they were back to their normal curvy, muscular shape. While he watched and learnt her patterns, he’d often found himself staring at them…

  
His conversation with his brother had him worked up and the woman in front of him was stirring him up even more… “Don’t look at me like that. I know what you’re thinking and it’s not happening.”

  
“Oh, you know what I’m thinking now do you? Are you sure about that?”

  
“Fuck yeah… so fuck off!” Her reply made him laugh. He’d never been spoken to in the manner she did and he loved it… from _her_! He smiled as he cupped her cheek in his hand.

  
“There’s a lot going on this morning. Emmett will be here shortly with clothes and food and then some of my men will be here to talk about what’s going on tonight. Stay up here until you can change clothes and then you can come down.”

  
 _Stay here… then you can come down???_ Bella was about to tell him where he could shove his orders but then her survival instincts kicked in. Even after all that they’d done together, she wasn’t sure how far she could push him…

  
“You’re dying to tell me off, aren’t you?” Edward said with a smirk.

  
The smirk gave Bella all the permission she needed. “You may have found your way into my pants, Edward but I’m sick of being ordered around; I won’t let you be my next overlord.” Her heart pounded as she waited to see if she’d cop a hit like she would have from her father.

  
He stared down at her, basking in her fiery strength; it warmed his soul like nothing had before… and in all the right places. “Oh I don’t know about that Bella, I think you like me over you very, very much.” She couldn’t hold in her laugh at his words.

  
“That’s better…” Edward said quietly. “As I said, Emmett will be here soon with some clothes; I need to go out for about an hour. The other men don’t know you, so I would _suggest_ that you stay up here until I get back.”

  
“You’re leaving me here on my own?” Bella asked in surprise, when he nodded, she couldn’t help but ask the obvious question. “Aren’t you worried that I’m going to bolt?”

  
“I can’t keep you locked up for the rest of your life, Bella so I have to start trusting you sometime now don’t I…” he said with a shrug, “Though, I hope that you won’t leave, I’m finding that I rather like having you around.” He bent down to kiss her lips lightly and then walked out of the room. “Back soon…”

  
Bella just stared at the open door. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there for because she was sure he was going to come back but when he didn’t she walked out into the hallway. “Edward?” she called out while listening for any sound. When she got no reply, she went further to where she was sure the stairs were. Looking down into the foyer of the older home, she slowly went down, still expecting someone to jump out at her. “Edward…?”

  
Bella walked around the ground floor, searching all the rooms before she realised she was truly alone. She walked to the front door expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t so she opened it and walked out onto the porch. Looking around, she found herself looking down a very, very long driveway; she was clearly _no longer in Kansas_.

“Even if I wanted to run, where the fuck would I go?” she said to herself. It was a few seconds before she realised what she’d just said; she really didn’t want to run… She walked out onto the path in front of her and tilted her face up to the sun, it had been a while since she felt its warmth and she couldn’t help but lift her arms out to her side and smile. It wasn’t just the sun that made her smile… it was the feeling of being trusted so completely. She knew that Edward leaving her on her own like this was his way of showing his trust in her. Taking a deep breath of clean fresh air into her lungs, she turned around and walked back into the house with a belly full of butterflies.

  
-x-

  
Edward stood halfway up the driveway behind a tree, watching Bella as she smiled up at the sky; her beauty practically took his breath away. Everything in him told him that he could trust Bella but his brother had sowed this little seed of doubt and with everything that would be going down that night, he needed to kill that seed immediately. When Bella opened the front door, the instant he saw her face he knew his trust was well founded; she would not run from him.

  
He’d heard his brother’s car pull up on the roadside near where he’d left his car a few minutes before and it didn’t take long before he heard two sets of footsteps come up behind him. “I’d ask what you’re doing but I doubt you’d give me a straight answer.” Emmett said.

  
“Just watching, brother.” Edward said, never taking his eyes off Bella. When she turned around and walked back into the house, Edward turned around to face his brother and father. “Dad…”

  
“Son…” Carlisle said in greeting. He was amused but also wondering what was going on. “You look like the cat that ate the canary. And I know how much you love eating birds.”

  
Edward smirked at his father’s innuendo. “Must take after you, old man…” Carlisle smiled as he saw something in his eldest son’s face he’d never seen before… happiness; an ease that was only achieved in the arms of a special woman.

  
“Was that a test?” Emmett asked with a nod of his head towards the house.

  
“No, I knew she wouldn’t run, I just wanted to see how long it would take before she defied me after telling her to stay upstairs; nearly ten minutes, I really must have shocked her by leaving her alone.” He laughed as he started to walk off. When they got back to where the cars were, Edward spoke up. “I’ll be back soon, I’ve got to go deliver Swan’s incentive package. Be nice Emmett.”

  
“Watch out for hired guns, Edward. We’re not friends with all of them.”

  
“I will, it should only take an hour at most to get back here.”

  
As Edward drove off, Carlisle turned to his youngest son. “I’d be nice to her if I were you, Em. I have a feeling she’s going to be around for a really long time and she’ll have your brother’s ear…” 


	15. Chapter 15

Edward returned to the area he’d found the kid in the night before but there was no sign of him but there were others. Again, he waited for someone to notice him rather than call out and have too many eyes on him and then motioned him over.

  
“I need a delivery made,” Edward said in his fake Irish accent. “There’s a hundred in it for you if you do it now.”

  
“I don’t run drugs man.” The kids said.

  
“Not drugs and before you ask, it’s nothin’ that goes bang either, just a surprise and I want to keep my identity a secret for a bit… but I’m sure once they see what’s in here, they’ll know it was me.”

  
“Where’s it goin’?”

  
“It’ll take ya ‘bout fifteen to walk there. Well…? If you don’t want the green, let me know and I’ll find someone who does.”

  
It didn’t take the kid long to make up his mind. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

  
“Good… I’ll follow you to make sure you actually take it to where it’s to go. I’ll give ya half now, half when the job’s done… deal?”

  
“Yeah…” Edward gave the well-sealed box and a piece of paper with Swan’s address to the kid and waited. “Where’s the money?” The kid asked.

  
“Don’t open that box, tis not meant for you. Remember, I’ll be followin’ and watchin’ ya. Hand it over and then leave, no chit chat.” The kid nodded, holding out his hand for the money. As soon as Edward handed it over, he turned around and walked away at a quick pace. “I’ll meet you back here when the job’s done.” Edward called out.

  
It took the kid less than ten minutes to get to the address. He looked up at the huge house before looking back at the address to make sure he didn’t make a mistake… he had a bad feeling. But, he needed the money, so he walked up to the gate and looked around.

  
“Go away kid.” A guard said as he walked out from behind some bushes.

  
“I’ve got a delivery.”

  
The guard, Felix, had been on duty the night before when the last delivery was made, narrowed his eyes at the sight of the large box. “Who gave it to you?” he asked.

  
“I don’t know… some scruffy Irish guy with a beard.” Felix knew what Cullioni looked like and most of his men and that didn’t match anyone he knew. He had no idea who it was and he was about to send the kid away without taking the box when he heard a car coming down the driveway; the sound taking his attention away from the gate. When he turned back to tell the kid to go, he was met with empty space and a box on the ground.

  
“Oh fuck…” He reached into the right pocket of his jacket and pressed a button on the remote and then once the gate was open enough, he picked up the box. Felix was pretty sure of what he was going to find inside, he just hoped it wasn’t; his boss was in the worst mood already and another body part was going to get its delivery boy a bullet.

  
“What’s that?” Felix looked up to find to find the occupant of the big black Mercedes staring at him with hard eyes.

  
“A delivery for the boss, Mr Scali.” When all he got in reply was a lifted eyebrow, Felix knew it was time to open the box.

  
“Well…?”

  
Oh fuck it all to hell… Felix thought to himself. Quickly he pictured the lackey he was going to get to hand it over to Charles Swan. “It’s a… message sir. I’ll need to get this up to the house.”

  
Aro Scali’s eyes narrowed at the implication so he walked over and looked into the box. “First a finger, now a foot, there won’t be much left soon.” As Aro pulled a phone from the breast pocket of his Armani suit, shots rang out close by.

  
=x=

  
Edward watched the delivery from his car a short distance away. He couldn’t see a lot, but he did see a guard pick up the box from where the kid had dropped it. He wondered why the gate wasn't shutting straight away so he slowly inched his car forward until he saw a car and a rather familiar looking old guy who stood beside the guard. Edward knew he’d seen him somewhere before and racked his brain trying to figure out where from. Just as the name popped into his head, the pop of a bullet piercing the windscreen and hitting the headrest beside his ear, made him duck. “ _FUCK!_ ” He yelled out. Without any hesitation, Edward glanced to the left before swerving out onto the road then swung the car away from the direction of the shooter. As he wrestled the car in the direction he needed, all Edward could feel was the burning pain of a gunshot in the top of his shoulder muscle… right beside his neck. He was going to enjoy returning the favour to old man Swan.

  
He took off like a bat out of hell, looking back in the car’s mirrors and recognised Stefan Lazar running flat out behind him… and where one Lazar was, the other wouldn’t be too far away; Stefan and his identical twin, Vladimir were deadly assassins. Edward grabbed his phone from the centre console and pressed speed-dial, when it connected he didn’t waste time. “Garrett, I’m coming in hot… be there in 2, Lazar’s on my tail.”

  
“Got it.”

  
He threw the phone to the floor of the car and hooked it around the next left. Another shot silently sliced through the car, smashing through the back window, narrowly missing his head…then another through the roof. At least he now knew the other Lazar was on a roof top.

  
After throwing the car around the final right hand corner, Edward could see the warehouse up ahead. As he got closer he could see a head pop out of the open roller door. A second later, Garrett walked out and starting to shoot at something behind Edward. Using the cover fire to his advantage, Edward slowed down just enough to ensure he didn’t kill himself as he swung the car through the open doorway.

  
The metal door was down before the car slid to a stop and then Edward was striding over to where his capo stood, handing out the AK’s and Uzi’s… “Get into position!” he yelled out to the men around him. He knew the Lazars weren’t about to turn around and go home. “Be ready for the Lazar twins.”

  
“Did it hit anything important, boss?” Garrett asked nodding to Edward’s shoulder, as he handed over two Uzi’s.

  
“I’m still upright, so obviously not.” Edward dialled up his brother as he tucked one of his two custom Barretta Desert Eagles into the back of his pants.

  
“How far away are you?” Emmett asked.

  
“I’ll be a while… the Lazars found me. I’m with Garrett but may need backup.” As Emmett let out a string of profanity, Edward yelled out over the top of him. “If you don’t hear from me in five, send Liam and Alec. _You stay with Bella_.” What Edward didn’t say was that if he didn’t make it out of this, his brother needed to live to take over and get their sister out of the clutches of old man Swan. But Emmett wasn’t stupid, he heard what wasn’t said.

  
Edward didn’t even have time to end the call before the first shots rang out. Automatic gunfire rang out through the huge warehouse and men ran for cover. Edward knew the Lazars would split up and come from two different directions, so he pointed to five of his men and pointed up to the roof; one of the twins would definitely be up there. “Take three men and take the rear.” Edward yelled out to his capo and then he and the men left fanned out around the front of the building. The sound of smashing windows above was heard amongst the gunfire signalling possible entry, if so, Edward was now five men down.

  
“Ben…” Edward called out to the man beside him. He hand signalled for the sharpshooter to keep eyes on the roof before moving over to one of the windows at the front of the building. As he took quick glances out the window, Edward listened to all the bullets being exchanged from different areas around him; more than two… So there were obviously more than just the Lazars out there. He grabbed his phone and dialled Emmett back.

  
“What’s happening?”

  
“Send as many as you can, brother, there’s more than two here…”

  
“Fuck… They’re already on their way, they should be almost there. I’m coming in.”

  
“NO! You stay there, keep her safe and get Alice back, you hear me brother…?”

  
“Yeah… I hear you. Oh, heads up… dad’s on his way, I couldn’t keep him here.”

  
“Okay…” Edward dropped at the sound and feel of a bullet whizzing past his head. He glanced up and saw one of the twins in the rafters… “You fucking prick!” He shouted at the smiling assassin. He obviously wanted Edward to know who was taking him out instead of getting a bullet without knowing it was coming.

  
Dropping the phone, he pulled out the second Barretta out from behind his back and started shooting both weapons up to the roof as he ran for cover; he took great satisfaction in watching the shocked look on the man’s face before he fell. If he wasn’t dead already, he would be once he hit the concrete floor below. Running low around the perimeter of the warehouse, Edward met back up with Garrett.

  
“You must have an expensive head, boss,” Garrett said smirking. “…took three gangbangers out ‘round back.”

  
“I got one of the twins too, we need to… ” Before he could say anything more, everything went quiet… “Call Liam, see what’s happening outside.”

  
It only took a second to get the info they needed. “He got the other Lazar. Looks like they called in the Huilen gang as extra fire power, he and Alec took out most of them but some turned tail and ran. Stay here while I make sure it’s all clear. We don’t need you with more holes than you already have.”

  
Five minutes later, Edward was driving Liam’s car back to the ‘Hole’ where he’d been keeping Bella; Garrett and Alec were following. “Hook this into your Bluetooth and dial up ‘Old Man’.” He said to Liam as he handed the cell phone over. Once it was done and a dial tone was heard coming through the radio of the car, Edward couldn’t help but smirk… he couldn’t wait to hear Swan’s reaction.

  
“Is it done?” He obviously thought it was the Lazars calling.

  
“Yeah… your hitmen are dead Old man and so are you.”

  
When Charles Swan heard the voice of his nemesis on the phone instead of one of the Lazar’s, he went ballistic and as much as Edward relished in his opponent’s displeasure, the rage inside was about to burst.

  
“I told you not long ago that you were fucking with the _wrong_ guy Swan and now you’ve _really_ pissed me off.”

  
“You fucking cut her _foot_ off! You _motherfucking prick!_ I’m going to skin you alive myself…” Edward was pleased to see that they didn’t realise it wasn’t Bella’s foot.

  
“Yeah, yeah…” Edward said interrupting. “She still has plenty of parts left and if you don’t want to see more, then you sit your fucking ass down and pay attention. One more Swan… _one_ more fuck up and you’ll have to feed your daughter for the rest of her life because she won’t have any arms to do it herself… And as God as my witness, if one hair is harmed on my sister's head, I’ll hunt down every blood relative you have no matter how remote and make them pay while you watch… and I can make someone pay for days on end. Then I’ll take every possession you have and make it my own…”

  
Edward didn’t elaborate of exactly what those possessions were, he was saving that for another time but he was sure the old man knew what or _who_ he was including…

  
“You better call off the hunt old man, I’d hate for your daughter to get caught in the crossfire. Don’t be stupid when there are only a few hours to go.”

  
“Fuck you!” Charles growled down the line before hanging up. At this point in time, it wasn’t so much the love he had for his daughter or the need to have her back that made him stand down but more the need to be seen getting her back alive that counted right now. He’d overheard some of the unrest in his men. James had wanted to take them out for their insubordination but Charles knew that if they started doing that, then dissention would run rife. The one thing he couldn’t afford right now is a trusted insider working against them; all it was right now were murmurs about his inability to get his own daughter back.

  
He’d deal with them once Bella was shipped off to her husband. Aro… the meeting had gone well and it was agreed that Bella would be married as soon as they got back to the house after the exchange and would leave for Italy the following morning after consummation had been confirmed. When Aro had called to tell him about the delivery at the gate, Charles was worried he’d pull out but he didn’t, he just wanted more out of the deal in compensation. As he started to plan the night ahead, the door to his study opened and his eldest son walked in.

  
“Get Jasper up here, he needs to know his place before we leave here tonight.”

  
“Gladly… Am I finally going to get a taste of Cullioni as well?”

  
“No.” James smirked before turning to leave.

  
Charles picked up his phone and started calling in all the guns he could get, he just hoped that word hadn’t reached their ears about the Lazars yet…

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think.


End file.
